


A thousand islands: the lost treasure of Bill Johnstone, Pirate

by ThreeMagpies



Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Gen, Mystery, Pirate Treasure, Smut, Treasure Hunting, charloe - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-05-25 12:11:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6194674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThreeMagpies/pseuds/ThreeMagpies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Revolution fic (No blackout Au): Sebastian (Bass) Monroe/Charlotte (Charlie) Matheson; Charloe.</p><p>Charlie is used to the limelight… as a daytime TV weather girl, she is sent all over the world talking about the weather in Chicago and the US while hugging Koalas in Australia or sky diving in Nepal. Then she fell in love with her bodyguard Sebastian Monroe and found a whole new kind of adventure. In this story, Charlie and Bass are just married and are off on a sailing trip to the Thousand Islands of the St Lawrence River for their honeymoon – where they fall headlong into a new adventure and solve a mystery…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LemonSupreme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonSupreme/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a happy birthday fic for the wonderful Lemon Supreme... happy birthday Lemon, hoping all your wishes and dreams come true, :) Magpie

Bass steered the sleek Nonsuch thirty foot ultra ‘Circle M’ away from the private jetty of their house in Egg Harbour, just married pennants fluttering like a flock of bright birds from the mast and everything gleaming in the bright August sunshine. Charlie stood at the bow waving and blowing smiles and kisses to the mostly happily drunk or heading that way - except for her mom of course - gathering of their family and friends on the shore. 

Miles and Duncan were standing arm in arm right by the edge of the water doing a sort of Mexican wave with their free arms. Her uncle looked rumpled (when wasn’t he?) but very handsome in his best man’s white tux while Charlie’s best friend, Matron of honor and boss was stunning but slightly wobbly in sky high sandals and a simple red satin sheath that was colour matched to her Porsche. Charlie shook her head, glad they had someone who knew what they were doing taking photos because by the looks neither Miles nor Duncan – or anyone else except she, Bass and her mom, would remember anything about the wedding tomorrow.

Looking totally amazing in her bridesmaid’s floating blue silk and tulle, her wild dreads in all shades of blue and turquoise with silver beads flashing, Penny was flinging handfuls of coloured rice paper into the air over everyone and laughing as sea birds swooped down to check it out... 

Connor was holding a big bowl of the stuff for her and looked like a movie star in his tux, his wide grin flashing as a snowstorm of their confetti got caught by the wind, whirling into Jeremy’s face and hair making him splutter and almost drop his drink... 

Jeremy’s date, a willowy, gorgeous Indian artist he’d met at Connor’s exhibition joined in the laughter, reaching up to help him pick all the bits out of his hair and eyebrows while her crimson and gold sari belled out in the wind like exotic sails.

Another one of Connor’s artist friends was taking photos and videos of everyone and everything, his short dark figure like a faun darting between all the bright finery while Jim and Sophie Hudson, Scanlon with his paramedic boyfriend, both in formal black, and Will Strausser – in between marriages and temporarily single, were standing in a relaxed semi-circle behind Miles and Duncan, glasses raised in a toast towards the boat.

Charlie waved at them all, blowing kisses as they drank. Then she looked around for Danny, spotting him at the back deep in conversation with Jim and Sophie’s daughter, Melissa, his tux and blond hair a perfect foil for Mel’s slim dark loveliness. She smiled, she’d been hoping they’d hit it off, Mel was majoring in astrophysics with a second in nanotechnology and given Danny’s smarts and background she was just perfect, not to mention the fact that she was sweet as all get out. 

Her mom and dad were standing a little away from everyone else, with her Grandpa and Grandma Charlotte, Rachel elegant as always in cream and gold and her dad in a black tux as father of the bride but looking as though he’d much rather be in jeans and a tee shirt, his bow tie hanging loose and his hands in his pockets… He saw her looking at him and blew her a kiss. His proud grin and gentle eyes almost making up for her mom’s try at getting a role in Frozen.

There were a crowd of their other friends a little further back, but no other Monroe’s of course, except Connor, although technically he was a Bennett, and Charlie looked round at Bass, checking that he was ok, her pulse thumping like a hammer when she realised again that he was her husband now, he wasn’t the only Monroe anymore.

He knew she was looking of course, like he always did, and his wide, happy grin sent reassurance like a balm to her heart. He’d taken his jacket and tie off and rolled up his shirtsleeves, the circled M tattoo on his left forearm looking perfect against his golden skin and the open neck of his shirt showing off the clean, strong lines of his throat under the cute blond scruff. He had his sunglasses on so she couldn’t see his eyes, but he looked relaxed, totally at home on the boat and totally, fucking amazing. 

She licked her lips, he was all hers now, and they were actually, finally going to be alone for a whole, wonderful month. She loved their guys, they were all part of her family now and having them around was great… but she was so looking forward to having Bass to herself for a while.

He had the course set now and came up behind her for a final wave, one of his arms sliding around her waist pulling her back against the warmth of his chest, her long skirt blowing back against her legs and over both of them in the wind.

What looked like a hundred flashes went off as pretty well everyone on shore held their phones and tablets up to get a good shot and cheers and shouted good wishes wafted towards them over the water. 

Then as Charlie watched, a giant splash erupted in front of the jetty and everything got a bit confused, people were running everywhere and she heard someone yell for Grandpa Gene while Scanlon and his friend rushed to the edge, stripping off their jackets as they went. There was a flash of blue as Penny raced after them and then, after Connor dropped the bowl of confetti when he followed her there was confetti everywhere, billowing up in the rising wind like pretty clouds.

The boat was getting too far away for her to see properly and the haze from the water combined with the confetti was making everything a little bit fuzzy but as Charlie squinted it looked a lot like someone had fallen in… She felt Bass’ chest rumbling against her back and turned to see his teeth gleaming as he laughed.

He bent towards her ear, ‘Duncan fell in and took Miles in too’

She looked harder. Shit…there was a confused gaggle of people at the edge of the jetty and as she watched there was a flash of crimson and a whole lot of loud yelling. Charlie was trying really hard not to laugh but couldn’t help it, although poor Duncan... ‘She’s going to be so pissed Bass, that dress cost a fortune and she and Miles were going out tonight…’

Bass pointed a finger, his other arm heavy on her shoulder, nearly helpless with laughter. ‘They might have to get changed first then. Look, Charlie… she just pushed Miles back in, God I hope someone’s getting this on camera...’

Charlie looked around, wishing her eyes were as good as his. ‘The binoculars, Bass, where are the fucking binoculars?’  
……………………………..

Approximately seven glorious days later (she’d stopped counting somewhere around day two), Charlie stood on the deck of the M in her favourite cutoffs, bikini and one of Bass’ old shirts and watched as the Thousand Island Bridge passed elegant and beautiful over their heads. She clicked off a few photos, turned and waved at Bass in the cabin and took a long, deep breath in of Canadian air.

They were travelling under power at the moment because for the last few days there had been absolutely no wind, none at all… Charlie hadn’t minded that much, sailing was fun and she and Bass had been doing a lot of it lately as prep for this trip, but the M’s powerful engine was quiet and she was enjoying purring along at the moment without having to do anything but gaze around.

The scenery around them was almost impossibly beautiful under a completely clear and beautifully blue late afternoon sky with the first couple of stars just visible above the horizon. Lights were just starting to go on all around them too and the famous islands floated gracefully into view and past them like little dreams or something out of an Irish legend. And wherever she looked there were boats, boats of all shapes and sizes from tiny tinnies to three mast sailboats, big passenger ferries and steamboats and the blocky cargo ships. There were docks everywhere too – small private ones like their own back in Egg Harbor, major ports in the towns they passed, and pretty well everything in between. People here seemed to live in their boats.

The Saint Lawrence looked wide and beautiful with its hundreds of islands and seemed totally benign - at the moment anyway, although Bass had been telling her stories of storms that rose out of nowhere further up river with waves that could swamp even the big salties that carried steel and other cargo up and down the river. They also had big storms down here too, wind storms that had carried off whole cottages and uprooted trees. They’d seen some of the damage from a storm back in 2010. Broken trees on tiny islands, sprouting green from severed branches, occasional pieces of weather worn wreckage. At the moment though it was a gorgeous summer evening.

They were heading for the Thousand Islands National Park further up river and she and Bass had carefully worked out a route through the often shallow channels in the river that would keep them away from most of the tourist spots but still allow them enough draft to take the M. The place was absolutely chock full of history and incredible stories of pirates, smugglers, rebellions and the rich and famous and Charlie was planning to do some video stories to send back to Duncan. There was talk at the station of a new travel show and she was aching to be part of it although there was a little something else happening that might mean a bit of a rethink. She patted her belly, she wasn’t totally sure yet but had a feeling…

She made her way back to the cabin, stretching, her skin glowing in the soft light. It was almost time to get changed. They’d been invited to a party tonight on a private island owned by an old friend of Miles. He’d lined it up once he knew where they were going as part of his wedding present.

She swung down into the cabin and slid her hands around Bass’ waist, hugging him close, feeling his strong heart beating under her cheek, the delicious warmth of his body spreading through her. She slid her hands between the open wings of his shirt and down over his yummy pecs and six pack to the taut belly and lovely package below. He was commando under the worn and faded jeans and she stroked her fingers down, squeezing gently through the threadbare, baggy material, feeling him grow hard and thick under her fingers, filling her hand until she could only… just… reach around him. 

He turned and kissed her, keeping his eyes front, ‘you keep doing that and we’ll need to pull over before we get to the party.’

She chuckled, reaching up to kiss his cheek, giving his cock a little pat and bringing her hands back up to play with his nipples instead… ’So, is Drexel his first or last name?’

……………………………………


	2. The island of earthly delights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: Thanks so much for reading ☺ This is the second part of a birthday fic for the lovely LemonSupreme!! I really hope you enjoy this next bit Lemon xx, Magpie ☺

The island was shaped like a crescent moon from the front with flaming torches flanking the wide paved pathway and stone steps leading from the finger dock up to a beautiful sickle shaped garden filled with tall oak and cypress trees, green lawns and fragrant flowering shrubs. Rising up several stories behind the garden the house looked like something out of a romantic painting. Just visible through the trees, curved flights of steps led up through the garden to a large balcony where figures swirled and danced in flowing dresses and formal suits to a throbbing electronic mix that spilled out over the walls, down to the garden and over the water. 

Hundreds of lanterns and coloured lamps hanging from branches and wall sconces lit arched, leadlight windows and stone pillared doors, elegant columns, stone walkways and tinkling fountains. More of the big oaks and cypresses were set in formal gardens that followed low graceful drystone walls around the back of the house. It was all lush, mysterious and very beautiful under a starry sky and a full moon, the reflections in the calm water perfect, alluring…

The M floated gently up to the only empty slip in a dock crowded with an assortment of sleek vessels and Bass stepped out to secure the lines, looking cool and sophisticated in jeans, white tee and a light linen jacket... Then he reached back to help Charlie down.

She was staring so hard at the house that as she stepped out of the boat she tripped on the dock line, almost falling, ‘Wow, that is one amazing house,’ 

Bass laughed, caught her up in his arms, swung her round until her feet touched the thick timbers of the jetty then grinned down at her, his eyes glittering like a couple of stars in the torchlight, ‘Yeah, Drexel’s always had more money than Midas, and no one has ever really found out for sure where he gets it...’ 

Charlie bent down to fix the strap of her sandal, using his hand for support ‘Miles said he used to be a drug dealer and to watch out for his hands…’ 

Bass nodded, grinning, ‘Yeah, he was the go to guy for pretty well anything and everything back in the day, including some pretty serious stuff, and he’s somehow survived all of it. But he knows absolutely everyone and his parties are legendary....’ He let her down, taking her hand instead, bringing it to his lips and kissing the fingertips. Then he settled her silver mohair wrap around her shoulders, the evening was turning cooler…‘and Miles was right, the guys a total sleaze and he just loves beautiful young women…’

Charlie looked up at him, ‘So I don’t say yes if he invites me to see his collection of contemporary art…’

He chuckled, ‘only if he invites me too, I’ve heard he’s got a pretty good collection.’ Then he leaned down to kiss her, his lips warm and tasting of mint… ’You look beautiful, Charlie, are you ready to go?’

Charlie took a deep, happy breath, smoothing the turquoise silk of her dress down over her hips and checking that the tape holding her breasts inside the tiny, strapless bodice was still doing it’s job. Then she reached up, running her hands over the swell of his pecs then stroking the luxurious fabric of his jacket. ‘You look pretty damn good too, Bass, and if he starts hitting on you I’ll be right there, ok?’

He laughed at that, ‘you watch my back and I’ll watch yours…’ then he held out his arm. 

She smiled back, sliding her hand through the crook of his elbow and they climbed the steps to follow the moonlit path, strolling across the stone paving and under the trees towards the stairs up to the house, walking past huge, ornate stone urns, nodding flowers and lots of sculptured nudes. Charlie recognised some of them from museums, there was a replica of ‘the kiss’ and a couple of Norman Lindsay nymphs, but a lot more looked like frozen moments from porn movies…a whole freaking lot of tits and ass as Miles would say… 

Bass had been checking out the trees, ‘smile for the cameras, Charlie.’ He grinned, ‘3, 6, 9 and…’ he nodded ahead, ’12 o’clock’.

Charlie glanced up, her on camera smile almost automatic, ‘yeah, I noticed,’ she glanced around, ‘I’m a bit disappointed though, I was expecting goons with uzi’s’

‘Would you like some? I could get a couple in for you…’ The lazy, cultured voice came from just in front of them, and a tall, slim, dark haired figure appeared from behind the trees, dressed in roll bottom chino’s, a vintage Hawaiian shirt and expensive loafers...

Bass stopped, stepping just a little in front of Charlie, his hand tensing around hers, ‘Drexel,’

She looked up at him, noticing the switch to bodyguard mode and felt her muscles tense up, ready for action, paying attention in case they needed to move. Bass’ didn’t usually react like that without a reason. 

Then she saw the armed guards flanking Drexel a few yards back under the trees. They didn’t have Uzi’s at least she didn’t think so, but they did have almost everything else and she counted six of them… She squeezed back, letting him know she’d seen them, was ready....

Their host came closer, good looking, although his eyes were strange, slightly unnerving, a light green or grey in the moonlight, it was hard to tell… They were fixed on her though, curious, hungry, although he tore them away to greet Bass… ‘Hello Sebastian,’ he looked Bass up and down and smiled - a bright smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, ‘Man, you are looking good’ he glanced at Charlie then back to Bass, ‘a lovely young wife, clean living… you’re a shining example to the rest of us.’ 

Bass smiled back, ‘it’s a pretty good life, Drex.’ Then he tipped his head towards the guards, ‘six? That’s a bit extravagant even for you.’

The other man shrugged, ‘Can’t be too careful, Bass,’ He glanced out over the water…

Charlie was trying to figure him out. He looked high on something and she didn’t think it was alcohol… He also seemed a bit nervous for some reason. But she understood Bass’ reaction now, this was the sort of guy who lived on the edge of things, a dealer in anything and everything, someone you didn’t turn your back on because he’d be selling your ass to someone else or trying to screw you, she’d met plenty like him at industry parties… 

Drexel turned to Charlie, his eyes resting for just a little too long on her breasts and she felt Bass stiffen, although his smile stayed in place, ‘anyway, enough about me, this must be the lovely Charlotte Matheson - or Monroe now of course, isn’t it? I just love your show…’ He came a little closer, stopped just in front of her and held out a hand, the other making a vague circling gesture in the air. ‘Welcome to my island, I was so excited when Miles told me you two were coming up this way.’ 

‘Thanks for inviting us, and please, call me Charlie?’ She let him take her hand, watching as he took her fingers to his lips and kissed them, charming to the hilt. She felt Bass tense up even more and winced a little as his fingers tightened on her other hand, beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea. She really didn’t want to spend the rest of her honeymoon languishing in a Canadian jail because Bass got jealous and flattened the guy – then a vision of the two of them fighting their way back to their boat through six guards played out in her head and she bit her lip to keep from laughing, talk about melodrama… ‘It’s like we’re on a movie set, Drexel, I’m so glad Miles called you,’

Drexel smiled, and it almost seemed genuine, his teeth very white, very straight, ‘I think I see why Sebastian fell in love with you, Charlie,’ he let go of her hand and motioned for them to move on, ‘shall we go? And don’t worry, it’s always party time here…’

They started up the steps and it was a good job there was enough room for Charlie and Bass to walk next to each other, because it didn’t look like Bass was letting go of her hand, ever. And as they climbed, Charlie could feel Drexel a couple of steps behind them, could feel his eyes on her ass... 

She looked back and yep, eyes on ass… It felt a bit rude to tell their host to keep his eyes above sea level, so she pretended to trip instead, the sharp heel of her sandal landing on the instep of Drexel’s front foot. 

Bass twisted and caught her almost at the same moment, keeping her from falling.

Drexel gasped, but waved the approaching bodyguards back, ‘I’m ok, it’s ok.’

Charlie held onto Bass and put on innocent eyes and her most sympathetic smile… ‘Oh, I’m so sorry...’ she said, biting her lip to stop from laughing when she saw the glint in Bass’ eyes because she knew he’d been waiting for her to do something because he knew how much she hated guys disrespecting her ass.

Drexel looked up at her from where he’d been examining his foot, ‘it’s ok, really, I should’ve been looking where I was going.’

True, and there wasn’t any blood, so it couldn’t be that serious. But as they kept going up the steps she smiled when she felt him keep further back, wary, his eyes on her feet now… 

Then they got to the top and as they stepped out onto the wide balcony, Charlie stopped dead, her jaw dropping when she saw the view out over the stone balustrade. It was just incredible, the water bright silver in the moonlight and dotted with islands big and small as far as she could see, some tree filled, dark and shadowy, some with coloured fairy lights flickering over houses and fantastic castles and little cottages balanced like toys on tiny mushrooms of land that looked way too small to hold them. 

She took a deep breath, her eyes filling…‘Bass, it’s so beautiful.’ She’d been all over the world, seen so many things, but this was a sight that would stay with her for a long, long time.

He nodded, coming up behind her, his body tall and hard behind hers, his hands sliding warm and strong down her arms and his fingers lacing through hers…‘yeah....’

Drexel came up alongside, ‘I’ve got telescopes set up around the walls if you want to have a closer look at anything,’

Charlie turned to him, her eyes shining, ‘It’s incredible, Drexel, you must love living here’

Something flickered in his strange, light eyes, something that was almost…nice, almost ordinary… Then the shutters came down again and he shrugged, ‘so everyone says,’ Then he turned, impatient, ‘Come on inside, the party’s getting cold…’

The wide double doors stood open, light and sound spilling out onto the balcony from inside the doors and the arched stone windows that wrapped around the house, the panes decorated in leadlight patterns of leaves, flowers and figures, all of them glowing with the light from inside while silhouettes of people moved like shadows over the glass, the music louder now, a thudding beat that sank into bones under the sound of voices, talking, laughing, calling out that got louder, more raucous as they got closer.

‘Drex?’ a young woman appeared at the door, not tall but very slim in jeans, hightops and a top that was sweet rather than sophisticated, an anxious look on her pretty face, her eyes skating shyly over Charlie and Bass and moving to Drexel.

He walked quickly to the door, taking the girl’s hand in his ‘Rebecca, I thought you’d have made some friends by now’

She looked down… ’I don’t know anyone in there, Drex, and they’re all a bit older than me…’ her eyes came up, ‘I was thinking that maybe I should go home? Dad doesn’t know about the party, ’

Charlie stared. Rebecca was maybe seventeen if you squinted. She glanced up at Bass and saw him looking too, his eyes narrowed, lips tight…

Drexel patted the hand he was holding, ‘But you just got here, Becca. I haven’t had a chance to show you round yet’

Charlie stepped forwards, holding out a hand, ‘Hi Rebecca, I’m Charlie Monroe and this is my husband Bass,’ she smiled, ‘Drexel was going to show us round too – maybe we could all go together?’

Bass smiled too, ‘That’s a great idea,’ he turned to Drexel, the smile changing to a warning with a touch of eyebrow, ‘Isn’t it, Drex?’

The other man’s face went tight and angry then he took a deep breath. ‘Yes, yes of course…’ 

Rebecca glanced up at Charlie, relief in her grass green eyes, ‘Hi, I’m Rebecca O’Halloran’ then she looked a bit puzzled, ‘have we met before somewhere?’

Drexel took another breath, ‘Charlie’s on tv, darling, you’ve probably seen her dozens of times,’ then he turned to Charlie, in control again, ‘Rebecca’s family own one of the biggest islands around here, have for generations…’ He patted the slim hand again, ‘Becca’s home for the summer and is researching the history of some of the islands for a story she’s writing on one of our local legends. She dropped by this afternoon asking about the old parts of the house so I invited her to stay for the party’

Bass put his arm round Charlie’s waist, gentle but she could feel the tension in him, ‘Charlie and I run a security company back in Chicago, Rebecca, would you like me to call your father? Tell him you’re safe? We’d be happy to see you home after the tour,’

Drexel smiled, his lips tight, ‘that really won’t be necessary, Sebastian,’ he shrugged again ‘if you did that we’d have O’Halloran senior and his very numerous tribe crowding out the place and making a fuss over nothing before you or I could say damn your eyes’. His eyes narrowed, ‘It’s just a party for crap’s sake, you used to be a lot more fun…’ 

Charlie reached down and slid her hand into the bigger one on her hip, feeling him lace her fingers through hers, ’I think he’s a whole lot of fun just the way he is…’ 

Drexel shrugged, ’if you say so,’ then he sighed and turned to the door, ‘Ok… this way for the tour, ’

The noise and warmth hit them like a wall as they went inside, loud and enveloping… The big two story entrance hall opened up into huge, lamp lit, crowded and heaving rooms on either side, a wide marble stair case in front of them leading up to the next floor and a mezzanine that was crowded as well with lightly clad bodies, dancing, moving around, with perfumes, sweet smoke mixed with the smell of vapes, food and drink rising into the air, the music loud, thudding, strong and the flash of camera’s everywhere… 

Drexel led them towards the stairs, smiling and waving at people as they passed, calling out greetings, his arm lightly around Rebecca’s shoulders, touching her very delicately, nothing overt, nothing too much, and she was looking a little starry eyed with all the attention…

Charlie watched them, her determination to get Rebecca away from Drexel increasing by the minute…

He stopped at a door behind the main stair and pressed his palm to a touch screen near the top. The door opened onto a landing and as the door swung shut behind the four of them, he led them down another set of stairs, the high walls studded with large, vibrant, powerful paintings that Charlie recognised from a visit to Australia. It looked like the work of indigenous artists from the desert and even though she was beginning to really not like Drexel, she was finding it hard to question his taste - in art and architecture anyway… ‘These are beautiful’

Drexel paused, ‘Yes, they are…’ then he started down again, ‘but there’s something else down here I want to show you.’

The lower floor was quiet, the thud of music from the floors above subdued, muffled by distance and there were no other people…

Drexel led them down a large, open corridor, all white walls and polished concrete floors, with paintings and sculptures hung and displayed along its length. He turned back to Charlie, ‘This is my private wing, I keep most of my best treasures down here.’ He stopped in front of a display case and they all gathered round, ‘including this’.

Charlie looked. Inside the case was what looked like a very, very old and almost intact wooden crate full of faded, age and water darkened straw, with a large, curved amber glass bottle resting against it. She looked closer, the bottle was full of a dark fluid and it was sealed with a cork covered in wax. There was a faded ticket of some kind on string tied around the neck although she couldn’t quite read it, ‘New… England?’

Bass leaned in over her shoulder, his voice soft, awed…‘You have got to be kidding me…’ he turned to Drexel, ‘you’ve got a bottle of real New England Rum?’

Drexel nodded, ‘1813 or prior, gotta be, cause in 1813 it all closed down and after the war it came from the West Indies…’ He chuckled at the look on Bass’ face ‘it was usually stored in barrels of course, easier to transport, but this was a special shipment meant for the President, so they bottled some of it up…’ He sighed, one hand lightly stroking the glass of the display case… ‘Ladies and gentleman, you are looking at a Pitkin flask containing approximately one quart measure of what was considered to be the best rum in the world, aged for about two hundred and four years, but probably still drinkable and worth a fucking fortune…’ He looked at Charlie, then Bass, then Rebecca, ‘and somewhere in the Thousand Islands is the rest of the shipment.’

Rebecca nodded, ‘There was this guy called Bill Johnstone, he was a…’

Bass broke in, ‘He was a Patriot Hunter, a pirate… The man who blew up the Sir John Peel.’ Bass was excited, his hand almost trembling as he touched the glass, obviously dying to touch the bottle, look at it properly…

Charlie grinned, he was an absolute history buff and she was pretty sure that he knew more about American history than most professors…

Rebecca nodded again, ‘He was a smuggler too, did it for years, mostly rum, but tea and whiskey too, anything that would make money. There was a story that he took a shipment and hid it in one of the backwater islands, in a cave probably, and then there was a big storm? And he couldn’t find it again…’ She looked at the bottle, ‘and then…’

Drexel continued, speaking over her, ‘And then this bottle turned up after the big storm in 2010,’ 

He turned to Rebecca, his gaze brushing over Charlie on the way and for the tiniest moment, before he managed to hide it, there was so much hunger, so much sheer greed in his eyes that Charlie felt hers widen in shock… 

But when he smiled down at the younger girl, all of that was hidden, ‘Rebecca and a couple of her little school friends found it on one of their camping trips and then her dad sold it to me for enough money to pay for her entire fucking college education’

Rebecca’s eyes widened a little but she nodded, ‘We haven’t found any more…’ she turned to Bass, then Charlie, ‘we keep looking, but we haven’t found any more no matter how hard we look,’ She looked up at Drexel, ‘Drex, I’d really like to go home now? My folks think I’m still at my girlfriends place but it’s getting really late and they’ll start texting me soon and I really don’t want to lie to them,’

Drexel shrugged, ‘ok, if you think you have to I guess…’ he put his arm round her, ‘but you can come back whenever you want to, Becca, ok?’ he gazed into her eyes, ‘because I’m sure you could remember exactly where you were when you found that bottle if you tried really hard, and I’m pretty sure I could help if you let me, then you and your family would have all the money you need....’

Rebecca looked doubtful…’I don’t know, I’ve tried everything.’

Charlie looked up at Bass and he nodded, time to go, she needed to get away from this…man…. She turned to Drexel, ‘I think we’ll head off too, Drexel, but thank you so much, it’s been amazing.’ She smiled, although it felt a bit forced, this place was beautiful but it felt tainted and she actually couldn’t wait to be somewhere else, somewhere clean, somewhere with Bass, but first they’d see Rebecca home and safe.

Drexel shrugged, ‘Ok, do whatever you want, it’s a shame though, the party’s just getting started and you’re all leaving, I don’t know what I’ll tell Miles’

Bass took a last, lingering look at the bottle of rum, ’You can tell him we’ve turned into tight laced party poopers or something like that, I’m sure you’ll think of something…’

………………………………………

Charlie and Bass watched from a distance as Rebecca’s little vessel sailed into the dock of her family’s island home. She’d invited them to come and visit the next day to meet her family and Charlie was looking forward to it. They sounded nice.

Bass turned them towards one of the public docks for the night, and she stood behind him, her arms around him, her dress blowing out behind her and his warmth delicious…

…………………………………….

Later, in their stateroom on the M, the boat rocking gently under her, and the moon sending a soft, creamy light in through the curtains, Charlie waited for Bass as he finished in the shower… It was still warm enough not to worry about a nightie or pyjamas so she was sitting nude, her legs bent under her, gazing out at the islands through the windows, wondering about how it had looked when there were pirates, and tall ships, and a war on. 

And somewhere, maybe, there was a lost treasure waiting to be found, although she really didn’t want Drexel to be the one to find it.

She felt the bed dip and strong arms slide around her from behind, then warm, firm lips and a soft tongue kissed her shoulder, and down over her arm, making her shiver with anticipation. She leaned back against his chest so he could reach her lips, reaching back to stroke his wet curls, she loved the feel of them wet, so soft and springy. 

Bass slid his hand down her arm, then over the smooth skin and lovely curves of her hip and thigh and down over knee and calf then back up, sliding softly over inner thigh, the little patch of curls above her sweetly glistening cleft and up to circle belly and breast… Her hair was soft against his chest, a lovely cushion with strands that caught on his scruff and fell over her shoulder to circle a nipple.

He took a long, deep breath of her warm, spicy scent, his fingers trailing low, lightly grazing her skin, soft touches that had her panting, gasping, moaning as he almost, almost touched her.

They knew each other well now, knew just how to tease, how to stroke to fever pitch, how to slow things down to a delicious crawl, how to make the other beg…

Charlie circled her ass against him, his cock hard between her cheeks, her pussy so wet that she slid over him with little liquid sounds, little squishy sounds that made them both laugh, Bass’ laugh a rumble behind her that vibrated through her back to her breasts, making them jump just a little.

He lifted her arm so he could nuzzle under it to reach her breasts, his big body curved around her like a shield, a warm incredible thing that she still was so fucking amazed by. 

Then he pulled back a little, lifting her ass so he could just slide on in, his cock big and thick and so wonderfully hot. She dragged in a deep breath as he filled her up, then another and another as he stayed there for long, long moments, his length pulsing all the way inside her, her walls squeezing him, her inner muscles clinging and releasing, her clit pulsing at the same time, a sweet pressure building deep inside and spreading through her entire body.

Then she gasped as he lifted her, then pulled her back down onto him, filling her up again and making her scream his name as he did it again, and again, he was so strong she didn’t have to do anything but let him move her, fill her, fuck her until she saw stars exploding and fell back helpless and limp against the broad, heavy muscled chest and strong thighs.

She turned her face up for a kiss, and found his eyes, a soft gorgeous moonlit blue, looking down at her, like pools she could fall into forever.

‘How do you feel about going on a treasure hunt, Charlie?’

She laughed, ‘if it means that we find it before dreadful Drexel, then hell yeah…’ 

He grinned, ‘that’s my girl….’

………………………………………………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: hope you liked this ☺ more soon, cheers, Magpie


	3. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: Thanks so much for reading ☺ This is the third part of a birthday fic for the lovely LemonSupreme and is really just a bit of sweet citrusy fun, I hope you like it, Lemon :D cheers, Magpie ☺

A thousand islands: the lost treasure of Bill Johnstone, Pirate…  
Chapter 3: Interlude

Charlie woke just before dawn, late for her, and snuggled closer to Bass. Her head was pillowed on his shoulder, her breasts and belly pressed against his chest, one of her legs draped between his and her pussy against the tight curve of his hip. She breathed him in, loving the spicy scent of his skin, his sweat mixed with her own and mingled with the heavy, heady scent of sex. Lots and lots of sex… She hugged him closer, her breath soft, a satisfied smile curving lips swollen from his kisses and delicious aches making her body heavy with echoes of pleasure. 

He was always hot, like a furnace, like her own personal electric blanket, his body big and relaxed in sleep next to her, his breath light, one arm heavy and possessive over her shoulders and waist, his hand spread over her hip, the other arm flung out on the mattress next to them. His long, beautifully muscled legs were spread out wide, possessive of the bed, and his tight balls and heavy cock, hardening with the morning and full of delicious promise against her thigh.

She opened her eyes again. The first light of dawn was just peeking in through the windows above their heads but it was still hazy and warmly dark inside their floating stateroom and there was a faint rocking sensation as the boat moved with the water. 

Charlie couldn’t remember ever feeling so relaxed, so luxuriously, amazingly happy. 

She loved her job but it was good not to have to rush off to work. Both she and Bass had turned their phones off as soon as they left Egg Harbor, Jeremy and Will were fielding emails and taking care of business, and Charlie had agreed not to check her social media accounts (leaving Penny in charge) until they got back, so long as Bass did the same... 

It was perfect…

She slid very, very slowly out from under the heavily muscled arm and smiled, slipping ever so slowly to a bottom corner of the bed, pulling out the padded manacle that hung there and fastening it around a strong, sleeping ankle. Luckily they’d left a bit of slack so she didn’t have to move his other leg, fastening that too. Then she slid off the bed, moving quickly to secure his wrists because there was no way he was going to stay asleep for much longer, and sure enough, just as she was fitting the last bracelet she heard a chuckle, and turned to meet a pair of blue, very awake and laughing eyes.

‘So you’ve got my attention, what are you going to do with me?’

She blew him a kiss, shuffled down the bed and straddled his thighs, her mouth dry and pussy wet with anticipation. Smiling down at him she stroked the back of the fingers of one hand up over his rapidly hardening cock, then down again, her fingers cradling the softly ridged furred warmth of his balls, her teeth catching her bottom lip as she watched his cock dance a little as it grew harder, thicker, longer in surges…

Bass was watching her face. The morning sun gave just enough light to see the look of total concentration and total, focused lust on her gorgeous face. He flexed his muscles against the manacles, his thighs clenching under hers, his chest and abdomen ridged with heavy muscles and the little trail of hair from his groin to his belly button gleaming gold in a sunbeam, gleaming like her hair. 

It felt strangely good to be in her power like this, to be able to look but not touch, to be helpless, although he wasn’t really, the bonds weren’t strong enough to hold him, not if he really wanted to get out. But he didn’t want to... 

He looked down the bed, over the growing mound of his cock. Her legs were spread out wide over his thighs giving him a beautiful view of her clit and the ruffled pink petals of her inner lips fading back into the shadowy cleft between her ass cheeks. His tongue darted out over his lips and his breath sped up, she knew just what that sight did to him, what not being able to touch her did to him and his cock jumped to full alert, a little jewel of precum winking at the tip.

She smiled again, dropping her hands and crawling up the bed over him, dipping down so that her breasts with their shell pink tips framed his cock and balls, her wicked smile and laughing eyes gleaming above them and long strands of her hair floating around her shoulders like lovely golden flames. Then she moved closer, rising up again so that her fragrant and glistening pussy was inches away from his face, his lips…

He strained towards her, the muscles of his neck, shoulders and arms corded, tight, his legs straining up as his cock reached for her, ached for her but couldn’t reach her.

She shuffled forwards so that he could reach her with his tongue and he flicked the tip over the hood of her clit, the little ridge of flesh swollen, pink and still sensitive. 

She gasped, her hands reaching out for the headboard, her breasts hanging above him surrounded by the long waves of her hair, enclosing him in a sweet flowing cave, her belly rippling and her hips angling closer, close enough that he could reach her with his lips, could suck and nibble on the tender flesh, could slip his stiffened tongue inside her, in and out in a dance that had her gasping and panting above him, her juices running down his chin. 

‘Shit, Bass…’

He could feel her getting close, could feel her walls tremble as his tongue plunged into her, and then she spasmed around him, flooding him with her sweet juices, her breath coming in hoarse, panting gasps… 

She hung over him for long moments, then sat down on his chest, gently, slowly, her ass cheeks spreading over him, soft and hot… Her pussy a wet, warm delight, her hands stroking his shoulders, his face, catching in his scruff, his hair…

He looked up at her, his cock so hard he thought he was going to burst if he didn’t have her soon. His hands were clenched, everything was fucking clenched, her weight on him, her pussy so close, her breasts just a breath away a temptation to just rip his way out of the fucking manacles and take her… ‘What next?’ his voice was a hoarse whisper..

She smiled, licking her lips…‘now it’s your turn…’

Damn, he’d been praying she’d say that, because he was ready to beg…

She lifted herself up again, her knees on either side of his chest then she slid around and over him, her nipples and hair leaving scorching trails over his skin until she was straddling him again but this time facing his waiting, aching, pleading cock. 

The full, perfect ovals of her ass were just inches away from his lips but just too far to reach, a sweet, sweet tease. Her pussy like a wet pink treasure between, the centre darker, opening a little each time she moved, giving little fleeting glimpses of her molten core. He licked his lips, tasting her there…The little puckered whorl above her pussy was winking at him as she moved too, reminding him that last night they’d played in there as well. The memory hot and tight and urgent, her moans and gasps of pleasure as he fucked her there ringing in his ears, the feeling of sinking balls deep inside her while his fingers played with her clit and plunged into her pussy, feeling his cock moving inside her ass at the same time was raging through his brain, making his balls tighten, his cock get even fucking harder… 

Shit…

Here and now though, her lips were leaving little burning kisses on the skin of his thighs and his belly, going close to his cock, but not close enough, not nearly close enough… ‘Charlie, please?’

She laughed against his skin, her breath cool on the dampness she’d left with her tongue…

Damn it, he was begging…’Charlie?’

One of her hands snaked down to play with her clit, and he watched, almost forgetting his bursting cock as she played with herself, her fingers slipping and sliding through heated, wet, beautiful flesh. 

He hadn’t thought he could get any harder but he did, he felt his cock swell even more, his legs rigid and balls jerking with the effort not to come, to wait for her.

And then, although he couldn’t see it he felt her lips sliding down over his cock head, the welcome, wet heat of her mouth and tongue on his flesh almost sending him up through the roof it felt so fucking good… She sucked him down, taking him in deeper than he’d thought she could, the angle letting her deep throat him, fuck, he could feel it when he hit the back of her throat. And although she still couldn’t take all of him, what length she couldn’t manage with her mouth she worked with her fingers, her thumb stroking the base of his cock, her fingers feathering his balls, going lower, stroking the little strip of flesh between his balls and his ass, dancing there… and that did it, he felt his whole body go rigid, hard, his hands and feet straining at the manacles as he exploded, feeling her everywhere around him, everything converging into a hot, white, incandescent moment… 

……………………………………

Then, through a haze of endorphins he felt her set him free and snuggle up next to him, her arms sliding over his skin, her lips searching for his and he turned his to meet them, pulling her in close…

She laughed against his mouth, ‘I love them,’ 

He laughed too, kissing her, ‘Yeah, though I’m not sure I’ll be able to look Will in the face for a while…’

‘You’re sure it was him?’ 

He leaned back so he could see her face, ‘well it couldn’t be Jeremy or Jim, and definitely not Miles, and Connor wouldn’t have thought of it’ 

She shook her head, ’No… but it could have been Duncan.’

He shrugged, ‘Maybe, but I’m pretty sure Will winked at me as we were leaving.’

She reached up and tucked a curl behind his ear, ‘Well, he’s a very thoughtful friend.’

One of Bass’ eyebrows lifted, ‘don’t go telling him that, we’ll end up with a collection…’

She laughed, her eyes dancing, ’that could be fun’

……………………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: this was just a bit of fun – they are on their honeymoon after all… Hope to see you at the next one, cheers, Magpie


	4. Family ties...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: Hi, and thank you so much for reading, you are awesome!! It’s been an absolute age since the last update, my story muse hopped on a Greyhound bus and went looking for America, sending me a postcard now and then… ☺ Anyway this is the fourth part of a birthday fic for LemonSupreme!! I really hope you like it, Lemon, and sorry this is taking so long to get to you!! xx, Magpie ☺

The morning was clear and beautiful, the sun shining like a burning penny through a light, dawn mist making everything hazy and magical… Tiny white clouds raced overhead, the winds twisting and swirling them in a kind of dance against the brilliant, endless blue, and on the river, the reflections of cloud and sky were broken by what seemed like a hundred islands, some small as steppingstones and others large enough to have their own zip codes. The water was flat, an antique silver mirror, and birds of all shapes and sizes danced with their reflections, diving for fish and swooping for flies and bugs.

There were other boats, small and large, near and far, heading off on errands of their own under sail or with motors chugging, the sounds of voices, engines, cracking sails coming soft across the water, muffled by the mist.

The wind was strong behind them, belling the sails as Bass steered the ‘M’ towards the O’Halloran Island, his hair swept back by the wind along with his shirt, his chest and feet bare and a huge smile on his face. 

Charlie blew him a kiss and he waved back, his eyes the blue of the sky. Then she turned back into the wind, feeling so good she didn’t know if she had words to describe it… She flung her arms out wide and breathed in. The air smelled of forest and damp earth, brackish water and fish with a touch of oil and fuel from the boats and the faintest tinge of wood smoke and it flooded her as they passed houses like fairy palaces perched on islands barely bigger than their footprint. It was all amazing, fantastic. 

They were getting close, the O’Halloran island was coming up through the mists, the up and down roofline and chimneys of a large, stone house outlined by the rising sun and a small figure standing next to a taller one waiting at the jetty… She turned around, facing Bass, hair streaming towards him in golden streaks and tangled curls that whipped around her face, her white linen shirt flapping over the tank and jeans and goose bumps rippling up and down her arms as she pointed at the dock. ‘Hey, there they are…’

He waved to her, already up and getting the ‘M’ ready to dock, ‘I see them…’ His words seemed to fly around the boat a couple of times before they arrived at her ears and she laughed as she got busy with her own jobs…  
……………………………………….

Bill O’Halloran looked like he was in his late forties, silver haired, with a neat beard and moustache. He wasn’t a particularly big man, but he was well put together, strong and fit, and had a calm confidence that Charlie liked straight away. He reminded her of Jeremy, and Will – and Jim, they all had the air of people trained to deal with things, an air of competence, capability. Which made total sense really. Rebecca had said he was a cop, from a family of cops…

Bass liked him too, and it looked like the feeling was mutual. There was a moment of mutual assessment then it was like they were old friends - or comrades…

‘I want to thank you, Bass, Charlie, for what you did in getting my daughter away from that place.’ Bill O’Halloran held out a hand to shake theirs, glancing back at his daughter, ‘Drexel’s a sleazebag and slippery as a slug, and I know he’s making money in all the wrong ways. We’ve been trying to pin something on him for years but somehow he keeps just ahead of us…’ He frowned, sending a stern glance at his daughter, ‘if I’d known where she was I’d have gone to fetch her myself…’

Rebecca shuffled her feet, ‘he knows a hell of a lot about the islands, dad,’ 

He rolled his eyes, ‘that may be true darlin’ but Drexel and his friends are still not good company for a sixteen year old girl, and you’re damn lucky you aren’t grounded for rest of the summer. I don’t want you going there again, ok?’ He looked at her, his voice gentle but firm. ‘There’re lots of other people that know about the islands too, you know that.’

Her eyes flashed, rebellious, ‘Drex said he’d pay good money for more of those bottles so we’ve got to find them, then we won’t have to sell our island,’ She shuffled her feet again. ‘He said he could help me remember where I found the other one.’

‘Becca…’ Bill O’Halloran sighed, ‘Honey, you know there’s no way he could do that…’

Charlie looked sideways at Bass, meeting his eyes halfway. So that was why Becca had gone to Drexel, she thought he could help her save their home. 

He nodded slowly and the blue turned to steel in his eyes.

She grinned. She knew that look. It was showtime…

Bass stepped forward, leaning down just a little so he was at almost at eye level with the young woman, ‘Rebecca, Charlie and me were only just saying how much we’d always wanted to go on a treasure hunt, so if you’d like some help to find those bottles, we’re volunteering.’ He smiled at her, one of the beautiful smiles that lit up his face. ‘And we’ve got some friends who are very, very good at finding things…’

Charlie chuckled. Drexel hadn’t got a hope in hell of competing against that smile…

Rebecca stared at him, her eyes wide, ‘really? You’d really help us?’

Bass glanced up at her father, his eyes very steady, then back at her, ‘as long as your dad’s ok with it, we’d love to…’ He looked serious for a moment, ‘no promises though, but we’ll give it our best shot, ok?’

She nodded, her face creased in a delighted grin, ‘ok’

‘We were planning on exploring the islands anyway’ Charlie smiled at both O’Halloran’s, ‘and this’d be a great way of doing that,’ she focused on Rebecca, ‘maybe we could film as we go? Post a journal? I’ve been dying to do something behind the camera instead of in front of it.’

The green eyes and the smile got even wider, ‘Wow…. that’d be just... perfect’

Bill O’Halloran had a slightly bemused look on his face although it was tinged with resignation too. Luck was a little hard to believe in after everything that had happened to them lately. He scratched the back of his neck, hesitating… ‘I don’t know, you could be wasting your time, if there are any other bottles, they’re probably broken, or halfway to Quebec by now…’

Rebecca was almost dancing on the spot, ‘dad, please? It won’t hurt to try…’ she looked from Bass to Charlie then back, her eyes bright with excitement, ‘please?’   
………………………………..

Drexel stepped back from the telescope, face twisted into a vague frown, ‘I don’t understand Sebastian, he used to be a real party guy, he and Miles were lots of fun to have around…’ he bent down again, peering through the eyepiece, ‘now he’s all…domesticated,’ he stood up again, turning to the carefully blank faces of the four bodyguards standing at spaced intervals around him, ‘the two of them are all pally pally with the O’Halloran’s and I bet they’re going to help that girl look for my treasure…’ He pouted, ‘now someone’s going to have to follow them around so I know what’s happening...’ 

A look of discreet and cautious interest passed between the four men, ending up with the tallest, his dark face impassive except for the even darker eyes just visible behind the titanium aviators. ‘Er… have you got anyone in mind, boss?’

Drexel pulled at his ear, ‘I’d send one of you guys except I need you all here with me.‘

There was an almost inaudible disappointed sigh and he glanced around, suspicious, then bent back to the telescope, ‘and it needs to be someone who can blend in…’ he shot a look at tallest guy, ‘someone who doesn’t look like they spend their weekends moonlighting with the WWF…’ 

……………………………….

The house was lovely outside and in, mellow brick and slate, warm and homely, but it felt like there was something missing, it was almost too tidy, too quiet, nothing out of place except for a large and battered stuffed beaver in an ice hockey outfit that sat leaning lop-sided against the mirror of the hall table. 

Charlie grinned as she and Bass followed the O’Hallorans further into the house, the beaver looked like it was waiting for someone. Then, in the big lounge room, they came to a large family portrait on the wall. A proud looking Bill was sitting on a couch with his arm around a lovely, smiling blond woman with Rebecca and a laughing, blond, curly haired toddler sitting on a rug on the floor in front of them, playing with a couple of kittens. Charlie stopped to admire it, ‘what a lovely picture...’

Bill nodded, a gentle smile curving his lips as he paused in front of it, ‘yeah, we had it done for Christmas last year…’ 

Rebecca slipped her arm through his, ‘They’ll be home next week, Dad.’

He cleared his throat…’Yeah,’ then he turned to Bass and Charlie, ‘Becca’s brother Jack is sick and my wife is with him in Chicago while he has his treatment.’

Rebecca hugged his arm, ‘they have to go every month for a week,’ she turned to Charlie, ‘and Dad and I stay here and look after each other and the island. We call them every day...’ Her shoulders moved in a little shrug, ‘my nan and pop come by every few days too, and my uncles and aunts and cousins live close, so we’ve got plenty of company…’ she leaned her head on her dad’s shoulder, ‘but we miss them.’

Shit… Charlie looked at the laughing little boy again then glanced up at Bass. He was looking as devastated as she felt, a muscle working in his jaw. She took a long, deep breath. The expenses would have to be huge, even with insurance, which must be why they had to sell the island. She smiled brightly, determined. ‘Well, that gives us a time frame for the mission now, doesn’t it…’

Becca turned to her, ‘a time frame for the mission?’

Charlie nodded, ‘wouldn’t it be great to find the treasure for when your mom gets back? Or at least have some good leads?’

The green eyes sparkled, ‘That’d be awesome.’  
………………………………

The four of them spent most of the next few hours, apart from a break for lunch, juice and coffee, poring over maps, photos, sailing and navigation charts, historical records of water levels, rainfall, flood patterns, wind direction, meteorological records etc etc… 

Rebecca showed them her research about Bill Johnstone, and they started a crime scene mock up on the white board in Bill O’Halloran’s home office…

Charlie took a break from taking photos and doing research and sat back with a cup of herbal tea, watching Bass and Bill working on a large wall map of the islands, drawing up plans and assigning search areas to teams, while Becca recorded everything on her Ipad. She was amazed at how much they’d achieved already. There was a lot of searching to do though, and Bass had emailed the guys, telling them they were needed. 

So Jeremy, Will and Scanlon were flying down early the next day, with Penny and Connor driving down in their SUV with a trailer full of equipment – and the spare skiff, probably arriving by the next morning, earlier if they hurried. They hadn’t been able to get hold of Miles and Duncan yet – Duncan seemed to be adopting Miles’ off the grid approach and turning off her phone, and Miles simply didn’t carry one, Jeremy was going to keep trying them though.

Bass had organised a couple of other smaller boats from a local hire so they could search the shallower channels where the ‘M’ couldn’t go, and there was Bill’s boat as well as Becca’s skiff. It was all getting pretty exciting really and she could see both O’Hallorans were glad to be doing something, glad to have a purpose. Charlie could see how much it meant to Bill in particular, his initial hesitation had completely turned around and he was totally engrossed...

They’d decided not to involve Becca’s numerous cousins in the search – not yet anyway. They didn’t want to attract too much attention from anyone... Becca was going to ask a couple of her friends and older cousins to keep a general look out though, just in case Drexel tried to make some kind of a move - although the general consensus was that he’d wait until they found something.

Charlie remembered the greed in Drexel’s eyes when he talked about the treasure and she was sure he’d do absolutely anything to get his hands it. 

She looked up and found Bass watching her, his eyes soft. She smiled back and watched him as he turned back round to compare notes with Bill, Rebecca peering around their shoulders to see what they were doing, her face shining, happy.

Bass came across as so hard, so capable, so in charge of everything, and he was all of those things and more. But she knew that nothing meant more to him than family and friends, nothing, and whether they knew it or not, the O’Hallorans had just become part of their family.

She took a sip of her tea. Speaking of family, she had something to tell him…

………………………………………

They ended up staying for dinner, a relaxed meal out in the garden, under the stars. Bill and Bass sitting back in easy chairs around the big firepit talking about policing, the law, the Marines and the relative merits of Ice hockey versus Baseball over a bottle of Bill’s moonshine whisky.

Charlie watched them kick back while she told a fascinated Rebecca stories about her life as a tv personality – and how she and Bass got together when she needed a bodyguard. It was funny how the story sounded so exciting and romantic when she told it to someone else… Although when she remembered how Bass had been shot and so nearly killed saving her in that hotel and how he’d fought Tom Neville so the other guys could rescue Connor, her heart started pounding again at how close she’d come to losing him. 

Rebecca seemed to understand some of the emotion beneath the adventure, because mixed with the excitement in her eyes was an empathy that made her seem much older than sixteen – except for the starry eyed awe in her eyes whenever she looked at Bass…

………………………………………. 

The stars were bright overhead, an infinite carpet of lights wrapped around the moon, the night breeze blowing cool around them as Bass and Charlie eventually made their way back to the ‘M’. They were staying moored at the O’Halloran’s dock. It was just as easy for the guys to join them there as anywhere else…

Bass wrapped his arms around her, tight and strong, his hard strength warm and wonderful against her skin, his lips and scruff soft against her ear. ‘Do you know how much I love you, Charlotte Monroe…’

She laughed and leaned back against his shoulder, ‘A whole damn lot and almost as much as I love you,’

He pulled her tighter, lifting her up and swinging her down onto the deck of the M, jumping down to join her, ‘You’re right about the whole damn lot but I bet I love you more…’ He pulled her round and kissed her, carrying her backwards down the steps and into their stateroom, still kissing her, tasting of whiskey and him…

………………………………………...

A little later, she lay back on their bed against the pillows, her body sinking boneless into the soft mattress… watching him walk towards her from the bathroom, the moonlight shading him in silver, caressing the curved, tight planes of muscle and taut skin, the long legs and broad vee of chest and shoulders that tapered in elegant lines to his narrow waist and below where the long, thick, temptingly swelling column of his cock hung, swaying as he moved. Shadows flickered over him as he came closer in patterns of waves and moonlight, the beauty of him taking her breath away, making her heart beat faster, her pulse a rapid, pounding beat in her throat. 

He stopped at the end of the bed, his warm, clever hands stroking her feet, stretching her toes… his fingers strong and warm, thumbs rubbing the sensitive skin and fleshy pads on the soles of her feet, then sliding up over her calves and down again in long, strong strokes that melted her bones and sent shivers of delight up and down her body, her breath catching.

She moaned, stretching her arms out, her body bowing on the bed as her belly tightened in anticipation of more of him… ’Oh God… Bass, that feels so good.’

He chuckled, moving onto the bed between her legs, his hands stroking up and down her thighs now, the tantalizing strokes almost, almost reaching the tender, sensitive flesh where her inner thighs joined the swell of her ass, her pussy lips.

She gasped, her hips lifting, her whole body straining towards his fingers, wanting more, needing more … and his hands slid under her, spreading out over the cheeks of her ass, kneading the flesh, spreading her out, lifting her towards his waiting mouth and he dipped to kiss her there, sucking, nibbling the wet, tender folds while her fingers grasped frantic handfuls of the sheets, her legs wrapped themselves around his shoulders, her belly tight with yearning and breasts rising and falling as she cried his name over and over, the wave of pleasure building and building…

And then he lifted his head, grinning, his face wet with her juices and his eyes blue, laughing pools, leaving her just on the very fucking flickering edge of coming…’my turn to tease.’

She gasped, laughing too although part of her was so totally frustrated as well as turned on that she wanted to hit him…’You bastard.’ 

Her hand found one of the pillows and then it was on, a full on pillow fight, the bed rocking as they pummelled each other, rolling around, skin sliding over skin, arms and legs and hair tangled, Charlie on top for one crazy moment, her legs scissoring his and arms flailing as she somehow got under his guard with a hit to the top of his head while he was aiming at her butt as the boat rocked and rolled, the both of them laughing like clowns. 

Then Bass flipped her into some kind of wrestling hold that pinned her arms above her head and let him slide into her from behind in one, powerful thrust that set her senses reeling again as he plunged into her again and again, his lips and teeth nibbling her neck, her shoulders, one hand holding both of hers while the other swept over her breasts, her nipples, then down over her belly to her pussy, playing with her clit, his fingers expertly circling, tweaking as he fucked her, his cock thick and long and just perfect, filling her up at that angle so totally, fuckingly full that as she came around him and he came in her it was like the sky exploded…

And as they lay there, panting, the bed covers scattered in piles on the floor and the sheets tangled everywhere, a cloud of little feathers floated gently downwards like tiny angels…

Charlie lifted a lazy arm and caught one on the tip of a finger, ‘mm… pretty’

Bass chuckled, lifting his head just a little from where he’d been nuzzling her shoulder, ‘did we bring any more pillows?’

She shook her head, her lips twitching… ‘Nope, those were the last ones.’

He gathered her up and rearranged them so her head was cushioned on his chest. ‘Well I guess you’ll have to use me then.’

She sighed and rubbed her cheek on the smooth skin, ‘not a problem…’ She dropped little kisses around the tight little nipple, feeling his laughter vibrate under her lips. Then she pulled back a little, so she could see his face, ‘Bass?’

He tipped his head a little, his eyes peaceful and a little curious. ‘Yeah?’

She’d rehearsed it so many times in her head, but now it was time, she didn’t know how to say it. Damn it, she was even kind of nervous, so silly…

‘What is it, Charlie?’ the moonlit blue eyes were concerned now.

She took a deep breath then reached for his hand, taking it gently to her belly, lacing her fingers through his as their hands rested on the soft skin there. Then she looked up at him and smiled, although her eyes were full.

He went very still. ‘Really?’ his voice was a whisper...

She nodded…

A slow, beautiful smile spread across his face…

…………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: thanks so much for reading!! I hope you enjoyed it, I’ll have an update up as soon as I can – I love the gang all together, so I’m really looking forward to writing it ☺ hope to see you there… cheers, Magpie


	5. Arrivals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: Hi, and thank you so much for reading!! This is the fifth (with two or three more to go I think…) part of my birthday fic for LemonSupreme!! I hope you like it, Lemon, xx, Magpie ☺

Charlie woke to the warmth of dawn sunlight coming through the window and the gentle rocking of the M with a big hard hot, delightfully male body spooned beside her. She yawned and stretched and when she opened her eyes she found Bass gazing down at her, his eyes a warm, smiling, peaceful blue. She smiled back, lifting a hand to cup his face, his scruff soft on her palm… ‘Have you been awake long?’

He shook his head, ‘not really, been waiting for you to wake up....’ He leaned over and kissed her, then slid down the bed, feathering light kisses down to each breast and over her ribs, his lips resting for a long, long moment on her belly. ‘So how far along are we?’ he turned to look at her, the scruff on his cheeks tickling her skin.

She ran one hand over his hair, the curls soft and springy under her fingers while her other hand found its way to the curve of his shoulder, the muscles defined under taut, smooth, golden skin… ‘A few weeks I think, we’ll know for sure once I see the doctor when we get home… but I kind of felt different, and I wondered, so yesterday I tried the early test kit we brought with us,’ her lips curved in a wide smile, her eyes bright, ‘and it said ‘yes’’

He smiled back and kissed her belly again, his tongue dipping into her belly button, ‘what a good little test kit,’ he kissed his way further down.

It tickled and she laughed, her toes curling as a shaft of tingling warmth went straight to her clit, ‘yeah’

He looked up at her again, his hands stroking her flanks, her legs, hips and up to her breasts, gently, reverently, his fingers lingering on her nipples, thumbs stroking the curve of her breasts…‘are you ok? Do you feel sick or anything? Do you want us to go home?’ His eyes were very close, concern and something protective and totally, completely possessive glowing in them…

She shook her head, smiling, snaking one of her legs between his, running a hand over his shoulder and along the curve of his neck, loving the feel of him, the solid strength of him…‘I love you, Bass, but… one, I’m fit, healthy, and I feel fantastic’ the smile became wicked, ‘and really horny by the way.’ Her thigh nudged higher between his legs.. ‘Two, it’s too early I think,’ she ran her hands down over his back, her fingers sliding over taut muscle... ‘Three, we’re having an amazing time and we’re going to help Rebecca and Bill find some really, really old and ridiculously valuable bottles of Rum,’ she narrowed her eyes and reached towards him, kissing him hard, ‘and four, we’re going to stop dreadful Drexel from getting his hands on them first, ok?’

He took a long breath in, then let it out, grinning, ‘Ok, and you’re right, it’s just me being me…’ he kissed his way up to her breasts again then leaned back so he could see her eyes, ‘so you might have to put up with a little bit of over-protectiveness.’ His hand stroked over her belly again and he laughed, ‘but just wait till Connor and the guys find out,’ his eyes were wicked blue, ‘I won’t be the only one…’ 

She tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him back towards her, gently. He was so damn cute and she understood exactly how he felt because she was doing some adjusting herself to the fact that there was a tiny new little person growing inside her, a part of her and Bass. They’d both wanted it so much, to make a little brother or sister for Connor and it was actually, really happening… 

Then she realised what he’d said, and he was totally right, she wouldn’t be able to pee without one of them checking to make sure she hadn’t fallen in…. ‘You’ll just have to give them lots to do…’ she kissed him again, ‘or I’ll have to get postal on their asses.’ She shuffled down a bit so she could reach the cock hardening against her hip, her hand wrapping round the gorgeous length and thickness of him, the velvety smooth skin over the solid, springy hard shaft, stroking him up and down, the helmeted head slippery with precum, growing thicker, longer, harder under her fingers. She sighed, smiling, hand gliding lower, cupping the softly furred ovals of his balls gently. The solid, moving hot weight of them filling her palm, so alive, pulsing against her skin, she loved playing with them… ‘So how are we going to celebrate?’

Bass slid up her body, settling between her thighs, his hands either side of her shoulders, keeping himself just above her so she could keep her hands on him, a smile on his face and his eyes gazing down into hers, the burning blue that made her heart pound fast and hard every single time, ‘I can think of a couple of ways,’ and his lips came down on hers in a kiss that sent sparks and shivers down to her toes...   
…………………………………

They were finishing breakfast with Bill and Rebecca in the big kitchen in the O’Halloran house, the heady scent of waffles, bacon and coffee wafting round them when there was the sound of a cavalry bugle from the table. Bass checked his phone, chuckling as he read the text, ‘Jeremy’s pissed,’ he looked at Charlie, his eyes dancing, ‘he never did like the water and Will and Scanlon are arguing about something again…’

She grinned, ‘Gotta love Jer, he can always find something to be pissed about… So how far away are they?’ 

‘About fifteen minutes.’

Rebecca was at the coffee machine on the bench by the big double sink, hair in a neat, shiny brown pony, a navy blue apron tied over her cut offs and white tee making espressos with the flourish of a barista… In between coffees she’d been darting round the room, slim brown legs flashing, delivering second helpings of food and mugs and gathering empties. Her pretty, irish face bright with excitement, eyes sparkling and her cheeks almost as pink as her high vis sneakers…

‘Bec?’ Bill looked up from his plate, amused…‘Honey you’re doing a great job and we all thank you, but will you please sit down and eat something?’

She grinned, tapping out some used grounds into the compost bucket… ‘Couldn’t eat a thing right now, dad, I’ll take something with me, ok?’

He shook his head, glancing at Bass and Charlie, shrugging, ‘what can you do?’

Charlie chuckled, ‘she’s just excited...’ Then she looked at Bass, he was frowning at his phone, ‘what’s happened?’

He drained his mug and set it down with deliberate care, ‘Connor and Penny are going to be a bit late because Connor got himself fuc… ‘ He stopped, taking a breath and flicking a quick look of apology at Bill, ‘because my son got himself pulled over for speeding.’ 

Her mouth dropped open, ’He was speeding on Baby? You’re kidding me.’ Baby was precious. Connor was too of course, but he knew how much Bass loved that bike and if there was so much as one little scratch on her paintwork Connor was in big, big trouble…

Bill looked confused and slightly concerned at the same time, ‘Baby?’

‘My bike.’

‘Ah…’ the confusion turned to complete understanding, and he nodded, ‘is she ok?’

‘Yeah, not a scratch...’ Bass shrugged, ‘he was lucky this time.’ 

‘What is she?’ 

Charlie grinned and got up from the table, ‘If you two are going to start talking motorbikes, I’m going to go meet the guys,’ she glanced at Rebecca, ‘coming, Bec?’

Rebecca put the plate she was holding into the dishwasher, wiped her hands on a tea towel and nodded, smiling back, ‘Hell, yeah…’

…………………………………..

Anchored a few hundred yards away was a scruffy twenty-five foot fishing boat, a half dozen rods set at intervals around the deck, their lines dancing in time with the breeze and the waves. A man in stained fisherman’s overalls sat hunched in the cabin, busy with a laptop and headphones. Another man, tall and powerfully built stood behind him, watching the screen over the other’s shoulder, both of their faces shadowed by the canopy above the deck. Every now and then one of them shot a furtive glance at the waters around the boat, then towards the O’Halloran’s island. Neither of them paid any attention whatsoever to the pull on a couple of the lines, after all, they weren’t really interested in fish…

…………………………………..

Jeremy stood at the bow of the twenty four foot pontoon, ‘Enterprise forever’ and waved to Charlie and the young girl that he presumed was Rebecca O’Halloran while Will and Scanlon were on the bridge, Will steering, their voices loud over the sound of the engines… He turned to them, only half laughing, ‘haven’t you guys worked it out yet? We’re almost there…’

Will popped his head around the side of the cabin, the boat swerving a tiny bit before he pulled her back on course, ‘what do you think, Jer, Picard was a better captain than Kirk, everyone knows that.’

‘Oh no he wasn’t.’ Scanlon’s head appeared on the other side, ‘Picard admired Kirk, Kirk was the pioneer, the real Captain, he knew how to do everything on the ship, Picard was a fucking desk jockey.’

Will’s face went red, and he shook his head. ‘No, no, no, no, no…Picard was a commander for years before he was assigned to the Enterprise. He had fucking decades of experience in Starfleet.’ 

Jeremy rolled his eyes, sighed heavily and walked back to the bridge, shoving the others out of the way, ‘For crying out loud, I’ll steer the boat, you two get ready to tie us off,’ he grinned, and by the way, Archer was the real pioneer, he went out there first...’ 

Two sets of incredulous eyes turned to him and he chuckled as they shook their heads in unison and headed to the rails and the dock lines as the island got closer... 

…………………………………..

Charlie watched as the smart but slightly strangely shaped blue and white vessel slid gracefully towards them over the water… ‘So what sort of boat is it?’

Rebecca turned to her, ‘it’s a Pontoon, they’re real good for going between the islands because they sit high on the water,’ she grinned. ‘They’re a whole lot of fun, my cousin Iain has one…’

Bass came up behind them, sliding his arms around Charlie’s waist and resting his chin on her shoulder, ‘I thought we might need something with a shallow draught,’

Bill nodded, ‘Yeah, they’re useful round here,’ he glanced over at Bass, ‘pricey though, Geordi’s boats don’t come cheap...’

Bass grinned and shrugged, ‘the company needed to log a few training hours in small craft operations and marine search, rescue and retrieval, and this fits the bill nicely…’

’That’s very good of you,’ Bill looked at him, gratitude on his face, ‘thank you,’

Charlie smiled, ‘Bass takes training very seriously, but this time it’s going to be a whole lot of fun…’ then she leaned back against the tall body behind her, rubbing her head on his shoulder, ’because we’re going to search, rescue and retrieve some actual pirate’s treasure,’ 

Rebecca nodded, emphatic…‘Yeah’

Charlie turned to her, ‘when I was a kid, me and my brother Danny used to dress up as pirates from the Black Pearl…with swords and eye-patches, I love Pirates…’ she felt a rumble as Bass laughed, his breath warm on her cheek.

The pontoon arrived and Scanlon jumped off to secure the lines, waving over at them, a huge smile on his face, ‘hey guys, who do you think’s the best, Picard, Kirk or Archer?’

Bass noticed the name on the side of the boat, and his grin go wider, ‘Hey Charlie, Connor’s gonna love this…’

Bill chuckled, ‘Geordi’s a sci fi nut… but a good guy anyway,’

Bass waved back, ‘I’d have to go with Archer, Scanlon’

Scanlon’s smile drooped, ‘shit…’

…………………………………..

Drexel was in Ontario enjoying a latte and an anti-pasto platter in his penthouse before his next customer arrived when he got the text. He frowned at his phone, ‘well, isn’t that just fucking great, Gould and Johns say Sebastian’s called in the troops.’ Pushing his glass away he got up to pace across the big room to the picture window looking out over the city, staring at the high-rise apartment buildings and offices as though he could see through them to the islands, his fists clenched at his sides. ‘And it sounds like they’re bringing the whole fucking armada with them’. 

The four guards lucky enough to be on duty kept very still, carefully avoiding eye contact. 

He heaved out a long, offended breath, one beautifully shod foot tapping on the tiled floor, ’they’re going to spoil everything. Too many fucking people know about this already, and with Sebastian’s little tv personality wife here as well, when they do find the rest of those bottles the whole world’s gonna fucking know about it before you can say Instagram.’ 

He turned and threw the phone at the sandstone feature wall, the screen smashing into a thousand pieces. ‘Fuuuuuck…’ He kicked a couple of the shards away with his toe. ‘And then everyone’ll want some of the action, won’t they? And then the price’ll keep going up and up and up…’ his voice got louder as he marched back to the table and sat down again, glaring round at the guards.

They all kept blank face, the guy was a tool but he paid well... 

Drexel stabbed a piece of fois gras with his fork. ‘That treasure’s mine, the fucking O’Hallorans wouldn’t even know it was valuable if it wasn’t for me. And I want the rest of it.’ He paused, the mouthful halfway to his lips, a little smile on his face, ‘And I’m going to have it, one way or another…’ 

Then the smile vanished and he pouted, looking around, ‘now, is someone gonna get me another phone or do I have to do everything myself?’

……………………………….

Connor swept around a corner, feeling really, really good as he bent into it, feeling the rhythm of the big engine, working with it... Baby was purring along between his legs like something out of sexy biker heaven and the amazing scenery passing them by made it feel like he was fucking Easy rider. The river flows… He smiled, his cheeks squishing a little under the full-face helmet. Shit, that was such a good film. Maybe he could work on a remake as his next project. He checked out Penny up ahead, she was driving smooth and easy, the big SUV managing the terrain and the trailer like it was nothing. Except for his little indiscretion back a ways, and hey, that hadn’t been so bad, this trip was turning out to be fantastic.

They were nearly there in fact he figured they were only a couple of miles away now, almost time to face his dad, once they picked up their boat and got to the island anyway… Thank the bike gods though that he’d only got a fine and hadn’t lost his license, because hey, that would be all kinds of embarrassing...

…………………………………

Bass tied the M up to the pier, reaching back across to give Charlie a hand off the boat. The island town was busy with lunchtime crowds and tourists, boats coming and going, the hubbub of voices and vehicles rising and falling and the smells of food cooking coming from the street cafés was making his stomach rumble. Then above it all he heard a familiar sound and looked up. ‘Here they come, Charlie,’ he tipped his head towards the hill road above the town where a familiar Black SUV and trailer was following the curve of the road down to the shore parking area behind the dock, the big, black Triumph Roadster rumbling close behind…

She looked, smiling. It’d be good to see both of them again, although meeting up with them here was a surprise. They wanted Connor to be the first to know about their news though, so meeting them in town had seemed like a good idea while Jeremy and the guys went over the plans for the search with Bill and Rebecca…‘So where’s their boat?’

He pointed to another pontoon berthed further along the dock, ‘just down there.’ 

She looked at it, this one was white with red trim, and her smile widened when she saw the name painted on the side. ‘’The truth is in here’?’

He shrugged, an eyebrow lifting and his lips twitching, ‘I guess Geordi isn’t just a Trekkie.’

‘Hey, Dad?’ The voice came from behind them and they both swung round to see Connor trotting towards them over the grass verge, pulling his helmet off as he came. His tall, muscular frame in the black leathers giving Charlie a flashback of the first time she’d seen Bass in his bike gear, although he’d filled them out just a little better, but then maybe she was biased…

Penny was coming up fast behind Connor, her teeth flashing white in her gorgeous smile, her multi coloured dreadlocks flying, her slim form trim and athletic in runners, tights and a purple midriff tank as she passed him at a run, patting him on the ass as she went.

Then Charlie was enveloped in a sweet smelling and slightly sweaty bear hug as her friend and PA reached her first, swinging her round in a twirl that left her laughing and breathless… 

‘Hey sugar,’ Penny stopped twirling and dark, kohl lined eyes looked down at Charlie, sparkling with laughter in the dark, gorgeous face, ‘you are looking amazing.’ She glanced over at Bass, her grin getting wider, ‘and so are you, but we weren’t expecting to see either of you so soon, so what’s happening?’ the smile dropped a little, her eyes on his, a question in them, ‘I thought we caught the rabid stalker family.’ 

Bass smiled back at her, ‘we weren’t expecting to see two you so soon either, and don’t worry, there’re no rabid stalkers, just a pirate’s lost treasure, a rabid, evil drug dealer who’s after it too and an innocent family who need the treasure to save their island and pay the medical bills for their sick kid...’

Penny’s eyes widened, ‘wow, you aren’t kidding are you.’ Then she turned back to Charlie, ‘honestly, you two should have your own reality tv show.’

Charlie laughed from behind Connor’s shoulder, ‘don’t know what you mean…’

Connor finished giving Charlie a hug then turned to his dad, holding a hand out to shake, ‘so we’re the cavalry?’ 

Bass took the hand then put his arm around Connor’s shoulders and hugged him, ‘yeah, you and the others… There really is a rabid, evil drug dealer with a small private army and he seriously needs putting down.’ Then he pulled back a little, his eyes serious, holding his other arm out for Charlie as she came close… ‘But we’ve got some other news too and we wanted you to know first.’

Connor looked back at him then at Charlie, then back at Bass and a smile spread over his face, ‘Really? So you two are pregnant already?’

Charlie sent him a look, ‘what do you mean, already?’

Connor winked at her, and sent a triumphant grin over her head…

Penny rolled her eyes, ‘alright, alright, you win’

Bass looked from Connor to Penny, ‘you had a bet on us?’

…………………………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks so much for reading!! And for coming back to this story ☺ I really appreciate it and I’ll try to make the wait for the next bit a bit shorter… anyway, this chapter got all of my players in place, and now the hunt is going to be on so I hope to see you at the next chapter!! And don’t worry, Bass and Charlie will find a couple of romantic places for some time out while they’re searching lol… cheers, Magpie


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: Thanks so much for reading (and for coming back lol!) ☺ This is still part of a birthday fic for LemonSupreme, a very extended birthday present really because this update has been a looong time coming due to muse going AWOL lol :D cheers. I hope you enjoy this Lemon, Magpie ☺

Set in the same AU universe as ‘A thousand eyes’, the story so far… 

Bass and Charlie are on honeymoon, sailing their boat, the ‘M’ from their house in Egg Harbor on Lake Michigan up to the Thousand Islands in the St Lawrence River, a region straddling the border between the USA and Canada. They’ve been invited to a party on an island owned by Drexel, an old acquaintance from Bass and Miles’ wilder days but Drexel doesn’t exactly impress Charlie or Bass, especially when they find him trying to convince a young female neighbour to stay at the very adult party without the knowledge of her family. When he grudgingly takes them on a tour round his art and antique filled house, he reveals that he really wants the girl to tell him where she found a three hundred year old bottle of rum, part of a treasure horde worth a fortune…

Bass and Charlie rescue Rebecca O’Halloran from Drexel, making sure that she gets home safe to her father’s island. They end up staying over then find out that Rebecca’s mom is away with her seriously ill little brother Jack and that the O’Halloran’s might have to sell their island to pay for the medical bills. Bass and Charlie decide to call in the troops from their security company to help in the search for the rest of the treasure for the O’Hallorans – and to make sure that Drexel and his private army don’t get to it first.

In the last chapter, Charlie gave Bass the news that they’re going to have a baby, although its very early days. Then, while Jeremy, Will and Scanlon who’ve just arrived at the O’Halloran island in a hired pontoon get settled in, Bass and Charlie go to meet Connor and Penny, Charlie’s PA and Connor’s fiancé, to give Connor the news about a little brother or sister. Connor isn’t entirely surprised, in fact he and Penny had a bet going…

Meanwhile, the island is being watched by two of Drexel’s men from a nearby fishing boat, and Drexel is on his way back from Ontario because he means to have the treasure and doesn’t care how he gets it. 

The O’Halloran’s aren’t on their own this time though.

………………………………………….. 

The big boat shed on the O’Halloran Island had been designated search central and at the moment it seethed with O’Halloran relatives of every shape, size, age and gender. 

Keeping the search a secret from the rest of the O’Halloran tribe and their islander friends had proven to be impossible, in fact Charlie was almost convinced that there was a healthy streak of Irish second sight running through their host family’s veins because within minutes of the M and ‘The truth is in here’, (or ‘the T’ for short), tying up at the island dock, skiffs, pontoons and flat bottomed outboards had started arriving in a steady stream and were tied up in rows along the jetty with new arrivals tying up wherever they could.

The house was buzzing too. Rebecca’s aunts and some of their friends had set up a food distribution centre and there was a steady stream of the smaller kids coming out with picnic baskets full of supplies for each search party. It felt like a festival…

Bass, Charlie, Bill, Jeremy and Rebecca were in the boat shed handing out maps marked with designated search areas surrounded by more than a dozen excited, noisy and mostly redheaded O’Hallorans. They were all good sailors, had to be living where they did and they knew their way around the islands. 

This wasn’t the first time that there’d been a search for Bill Johnstone’s lost cargo of rum either. Or for the gold, silver and various other treasure hoards said to have been hidden somewhere in the maze of Thousand Islands. 

Although that didn’t mean there was no point searching again. 

The river was always changing, the winds and the storms shifting sand and soil, covering and uncovering things all the time with every day different. So the search had as good a chance today as it had the day that Rebecca found that first bottle.

At the landward end of the big wooden shed, Connor, Scanlon, Will, Penny and a few more O’Halloran cousins were setting up a communications centre and organizing call signs, frequencies and check in schedules for the short-wave radios they were using to supplement phones and tablets. The waters around the Thousand islands were notorious for dead spots and no one wanted to be out of contact with someone like Drexel having a vested interest.

They were almost ready to go, there was the long afternoon still left to search, and if nothing turned up, the plan was to keep going tomorrow and the next day if needed, although after that some of the searchers would need to get back to work. There was a sense of determination, of purpose that was almost palpable. Bill and his family were popular, well loved…

Charlie was standing next to Bass, her arm round Rebecca, Bill on the other side of them and Jeremy was handing out the last of the maps and check in instructions.

Bass held up his hands for quiet, looking relaxed and casual but totally in charge. ‘Hey people?’

She smiled as their little army of O’Halloran’s turned towards them like flowers to the sun, red heads gleaming in the sunlight reflected off the water outside, faces full of expectation, enthusiasm and solid islander competence… 

Rebecca drew in a breath, her eyes shining. 

‘Folks,’ Bass looked around at every face, ‘we all know what we need to do,’ He grinned, ‘so lets go find some ridiculously valuable bottles of rum and help Bill and Becca keep their island.’

There was a roar and the whole boatshed rocked with applause, shouts of encouragement and stamping feet...  
……………………………………..

Drexel stepped away from the binoculars permanently set up on the top floor balcony of his house, silent, his hands clenched, knuckles white and eyes just a little left of sane. 

The bodyguard closest to him backed away a little, glancing at the other three for support.

They weren’t any help…

He shrugged, ‘Hey Boss, don’t worry about it, they’re amateurs, they won’t find squat.’

Drexel smiled, although it wasn’t a pleasant smile. Then he shrugged, ‘but I want them to find lots and lots of squat…’ He peered at the man’s nametag, ‘Kent.’ He glanced back at the distant hive of activity around the O’Halloran Island as boats left, scattering off towards the wild, generally unpopulated and almost unnavigable regions upriver and his hands relaxed...

Kent was looking a little confused.

Drexel rolled his eyes and turned to the others, ‘I’m going to let them do all the hard work, and when they find my treasure, Gould and Johns will let me know and we’ll go take it away from them. Simple.’

One of the other guards spoke up. His badge had ‘Phillip’ on it. ‘What about the guy? The one married to Charlie Matheson?’

‘What about him?’ The hands clenched again and the strange light eyes flared.

Kent cleared his throat, ‘he’s an ex-marine Boss, looks like a fighter too, and he runs a security company in Chicago, a good one. I looked him up.’ 

Drexel heaved out a sigh… ‘Yeah, I know. He and Miles Matheson were quite a team in the old days, and if they were both here I might be a little worried. But he’s only got a couple of his men and his photographer kid as back up – and the O’Hallorans of course.’ Then the smile returned, only nastier. ‘Besides, I know his weak spot.’

The two guards exchanged a look. The other two kept blank face, although their eyes were alert.

Kent was the one who asked. ‘What’s that, Boss?’ 

‘His wife of course.’ Drexel pulled an antique enamelled snuffbox out of his jacket pocket, opened it and tipped a little white powder onto the back of his hand, sniffing it back one nostril at a time. ‘He’d do anything for her.’

Phillip looked worried. ‘You’re not gonna do anything to Charlie Matheson are you Boss? I like her. I follow her on twitter. She’s great.’

Shit. Kent rolled his eyes. The guy was an idiot. He should know by now that Drexel didn’t like being questioned. Or criticized. And he really didn’t like being contradicted.

Drexel stood very still, ‘I didn’t say I was going to do anything to her, did I?’ He shrugged, heading inside, his voice fading away, ‘just that if it came to a choice between my treasure and his precious Charlie, I know which one he’d choose.’ He paused and turned back, looking at Phillip ‘Oh, by the way? You’re fired.’

………………………………….

It was almost lunchtime on the second day and Bass and Charlie were searching a channel between two islands, going slow and keeping to the deeper water in the middle. The thick woods, tall trees and wild undergrowth made seeing anything on the islands difficult but the recent storms had scoured the river banks and gullies, and mud slides and collapsed banks had exposed caves that they called in for closer inspection by some of the O’Halloran teams in flat boats.

Charlie was sitting on the bow of the M dressed in long pants and shirt with any uncovered bits of skin slathered in a herbal insect repellent and her wide brimmed hat draped in mosquito netting. The netting made looking through binoculars a bit of a pain, but it was totally worth it. She yawned, blinked, and kept looking. 

They were going on engine power, the sound a gentle chug chug that most of the birds ignored completely, just like they seemed to ignore the clouds of bugs hanging around her, she sighed and yawned again. Searching for buried treasure wasn’t quite as exciting as she’d thought it’d be. The scenery was nice, but all they’d found so far were lots of rocks and tree roots.

Bass was steering in cut off shorts a Chicago Bulls tee shirt and the battered slouch hat he’d bought when they went on a trip to Australia. He looked totally relaxed and carefree. He also saw the yawn, ‘you ok Charlie?’

She put the glasses down, swatting yet another huge mosquito on her ankle and feeling an almost homicidal sense of satisfaction as it dropped into the water, lifeless. Then she turned to him. ‘Yeah, but I’m wandering what these guys eat when they can’t get Charlie.’ She looked him up and down and shook her head, ‘I still can’t believe they’re not hitting on you too.’

He chuckled, his eyes crinkling behind his aviators, ‘maybe they just like pregnant women? They were all around you last night at the party too.’ 

She got up and stretched, walking over to him, sliding her arms around him from behind, the netting on her hat catching on his beard. ’It was a good night, wasn’t it? even with the bugs and even if I couldn’t have a drink.’

‘Yeah, the O’Hallorans sure know how to throw a party and the Auntie’s lemonade was almost as good as the beer.’ He changed course a little, then reached back with one hand, pulling her in close against him and dropping a kiss on the end of her nose, not taking his eyes off the river, ‘I didn’t know Connor and Penny were so good at organising things. They make a good team.’

She grinned, ‘yeah, I think they’re going to make an announcement of their own soon.’

He nodded, ‘they’re already looking at dates,’ Then he laughed softly, ‘did Jeremy show you the plans he and Will have drawn up for a nursery?’ 

‘Yeah,’ she snuggled into the circle of his arms, ‘they might have to fight Duncan over the colour scheme though. She thinks it’s a boy and the guys really want a girl.’ She leaned back against him, enjoying the feel of him behind her, solid, strong, the muscles of his chest moving against her back as he steered the M into the middle of a wide part of the channel, away from the thickest clouds of the evil insects.

The radio buzzed. Bass reached around and picked up the handset, ‘yeah?’

‘Dad? It’s Bec, she says they’ve found something, she wants everyone to come in.’

Charlie whooped...

Bass winced, grinning, ‘copy that, on our way,’ 

He’d just hung up when another call came in. It was Jeremy this time, voice stressed. ‘You’d better come back, boss. We’ve just caught a couple of guys in a fishing boat listening in and they say they’re working for Drexel. Will and Scanlon are finding out what they’ve told him.’

Bass shook his head, ‘Shit. Tell Will to go easy till I get there, ok Jer? Has he got his knives out yet?’

There was a chuckle on the other end of the line, ‘not yet, he’s still busy tying them up.’

‘Well, try and get him to start with the thumbscrews or something else, not the knives,’

‘I’ll try, but you know he won’t listen to anyone but you when he’s got a job on, Bass.’ 

Charlie was laughing so much she slipped, grabbing on to her hat and Bass at the same time.

He braced to keep her upright, careful of her belly, dropping a kiss on her cheek as she got her balance back. ‘Yeah, I know. We’ll be about half an hour. Try giving him some more rope, it might slow him down a bit.’ He fired up the engines, circled the M round and started back, punching in another code, ‘Connor?’ 

‘Yes Dad?’ There were voices in the background, loud, excited…

‘Connor, listen. There’s a chance that Drexel knows where we’re up to. Tell Bec and Bill to mark the location and come in but no one’s to say anything over the air, ok? We’ll be there as soon as we can.’

There was silence for a moment, ‘copy that, I’m on it.’ Then he was gone.

Charlie had stopped laughing, and was looking up at Bass, the wind whipping her hair around under the net now they’d sped up. ‘Do you think he knows?’ 

His lips tightened, ‘Drexel? Probably, and he’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants.’ They were heading out to open water now and he increased the speed, his arms and chest a solid frame around her, his legs strong pillars behind hers and the wind belling his shirt out behind them, the sun on the water making everything bright shimmering blues and golds now they were out of the shade of the trees...

She nodded, ‘I believe it.’ She reached up to pull her hat off, her hair whipping back and wrapping itself around his shoulders. She remembered the look of total lust on Drexel’s face when he talked about the treasure and knew Bass was right. ‘But this time we’re here to stop him.’

He chuckled, ‘yeah…’  
……………………………….

Drexel hurled his new phone into the water far below. ‘Fuck…’ He blew out a long-suffering breath. ‘It just goes to show that if you want something done properly you have to do it yourself.’ He pulled the snuff box out again and held it up to the light, admiring the colours… ‘When two tribes go to war, etc etc.’ 

Kent looked at the new guy, Jim. Big, strong and competent looking, his dark skin was set off by a snowy white shirt under the regulation black jacket and he’d arrived that morning. He also seemed totally unfazed by the fact that he was working for a crazy guy. 

Kent wondered how long that’d last. ‘So what are we going to do, boss?’

Drexel smiled…

……………………………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Hi, and thanks so much for reading!! There’ll be one more chapter – and then a little Charloe epilogue. At least that’s the plan. Hope to see you there, cheers, Magpie.


	7. Yo ho ho...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: Thanks so much for reading, for liking (and for coming back lol!). There’ll be one more chapter coming, well that’s the plan anyway, :D cheers, Magpie ☺

The sun was shining on water filled with dancing reflections, the sky was a clear, vibrant, endlessly beautiful blue arched above them as Bass steered the M out of the narrow, tree lined channel towards open water. Once out, they joined a flotilla of boats of different sizes and shapes coming from all directions full of excited O’Halloran relatives and friends heading full steam ahead towards the island where Bill and Rebecca were waiting to show everyone what they’d found.

After making their way through the marine traffic jam amid shouted greetings and making assurances that they weren't going to be long, Bass finally brought the M up close to the Enterprise 2, or the E as Charlie had christened her, pulling up alongside. The E and Drexel's junker were moored together about half a mile from the island where Connor, Penny and the others were waiting, but Jeremy had insisted Bass come and talk to Will first, hopefully before he started getting serious about interrogating Drexel’s two goons and they had some real explaining to do to the local authorities. 

Jeremy met them at the side of the boat, catching the mooring rope, tying it off and sliding a ramp across between the two vessels, his expression a mix of anxiety and amusement. ‘Thought you two’d never get here. He’s getting suspicious, I think he knows I called you in.'

Scanlon's head appeared at the top of the stairs leading belowdecks, he wasn't amused. ‘Hey Boss, you’d better hurry, he’s sharpening the steak knives now and one of Drexel's guys just pissed himself.' He turned his head so his voice would carry down, 'and I'm not fucking cleaning it up this time, Will.’

'Shit.' Bass made sure they were secure and jumped aboard, then reached a hand out to help Charlie over. 

She stepped onto the ramp by herself and made a face, only half laughing as all three men jumped to help her across. 'Guys, I can do it myself, I’m pregnant, not helpless.’ She ran lightly across, ‘see?’ 

Bass and Jeremy exchanged a look. 

Scanlon just smiled and held his arms out as she dropped lightly aboard, ‘Sorry, love. It’s not every day that we find out our alpha female is adding to the tribe and we’re getting all protective.’ Then he grinned, 'and I can't exactly promise it won’t happen again.'

Charlie chuckled and went in for a hug, ‘It's ok, and it's sweet of you all really,' she let go and glanced over at Bass, 'but I’ve just spent two days as a floating restaurant for every stupid bug on the river with Bass in shorts the whole time without getting a single bite, and I guess I’m feeling a tiny bit resentful.'

Bass lifted an eyebrow, 'sweetheart, like I said, I can't help it if they don't want me.'

She rolled her eyes although her lips were twitching, 'you could have done something more to attract them though. Worn honey maybe? Or walked around naked? I thought you said you loved me.'

He laughed, teeth gleaming white. You know I do, but if I walked around naked Bill’d have to arrest me.'

Charlie smirked, her lips wicked, ‘at least I’d have had something more to think about than the bugs.'

Scanlon backed away, hands up, 'this is way too honeymooner for me, I'm outta here, I'll be downstairs if anyone wants me, giving first aid and succor to the enemy once Will finishes cutting them up.' He turned and headed to the hatch but came to an abrupt halt as Will’s head, topped by a grey man-bun appeared through the below decks hatch, closely followed by wiry shoulders and a thick veined hand holding the rail. 

Will Strausser hauled himself up the last step, brushed past Scanlon with a deliberate shove and wandered over to join the others, his eyes slightly glazed as though he was high on something, although he wasn’t, just high on life and his favourite pastime next to fishing. ‘Boss, 'bout time you got here.' The company’s chief go to guy was holding a knife, tossing and spinning it with the zen control of an absolute expert, ‘these guys are total amateurs, they spilled everything and I barely touched them.’

Jeremy heaved a quiet sigh of relief.

Bass grinned. ‘Hi Will, so we won’t have to explain away any bodies this time?’ 

Will shrugged, slightly offended, 'still can't see why Baker made such a fuss, it was only the two for fuck’s sake.’ He turned to Charlie and his eyes softened, ‘hey there girl, how’re you and the little merperson?’

'We're both doing fine,Will, and it looks like you're having a good time too.’ Charlie smiled. Will was a little over the top in certain things but he had accepted her into their little family unit with absolute and unwavering devotion. He also had a totally wicked sense of humor. She loved that.

He nodded, 'hell, yeah... always wanted to see the Islands, it's a beautiful part of the world isn't it?' He blinked and turned to Bass. ‘Oh, we’d better get moving, these guys say Drexel’s on his way with a bunch of his men, and he's got choppers as well as boats.'

Bass took a steadying breath, 'glad you told me, Will, so how long've we got?'

'About an hour I think, more or less, they weren't that specific. Give me another five minutes and I'll find out.’ He spun his knife one last time, then flipped it into it's sheath on his belt with a businesslike snick.

Bass shook his head, trying not to laugh as Jeremy frantically shook his head out of Will's eyesight. 'Thanks for the offer Will, but it's fine, we can work with an hour.’ Then he looked at Charlie, serious this time. He didn't say anything, didn't have to.

She sighed, 'It's ok, Bass, drop me off and I'll stay with Penny and Becca, I'll be safe with them. You and the guys go take care of Drexel.'

Jeremy was busy untying the mooring ropes from the Junker and looked up. 'Bill might be better staying out of it too, might be a few things happening he won't want to see...'

Bass nodded, lips tight, 'maybe, although he’s got a bone to pick with Drexel himself, the bastard tried to hustle his daughter.' He looked at the Junker. ‘Hold on a minute, Jer, is the radio on that thing still working?'

Jeremy shrugged and tightened the ropes back up again, 'don't see why not...'

Bass grinned, 'good, I want to talk to Drexel.' He strode over, swung onto the old boat and headed for the wheelhouse.

Scanlon had turned back, listening in, 'you know who'd be really handy right now? Miles. Has he called in yet?'

Jeremy nodded, fixing the boats together again, 'Yeah, Duncan called this morning. They just got back from Vegas but when she heard what was going down she woke Miles up and fed him caffeine. They should be here just in time.' His lips twisted in his sideways grin, 'apparently she thinks they both need some fresh air, sunshine and no whisky.'

Will chuckled, 'sounds like they had a good time...'

Charlie had been watching Bass but turned her head, 'how're they getting here so fast?'

Jeremy grinned at them from the rail where he was tying the ropes back up again, ‘Miles’ has his pilots license remember? They've hired a seaplane.'

Scanlon looked a little concerned. ‘He's flying a plane after tying it on for a week in Vegas?'

Jeremy laughed this time. 'This is Miles we're talking about, remember? He could pilot one of those sea cows in his sleep.’ He swung down onto the junker's deck and joined Bass in the cabin as he checked out the radio set, ‘so what are you going to tell Drexel, Boss?’

Bass grinned as he settled the headset over his ears, and it was a shark’s grin, 'I think it's time I yanked Drexel's chain.'   
......................................

Drexel sat back in his seat, watching the landscape go by below him through the big windows of his private helicopter, the soundtrack from Apocalypse Now on full bore through the chopper's sound system. He wasn't paying that much attention to the view though, one hand was on the bare knee of the beautiful blonde girl sitting next to him, fingers lightly stroking the soft skin. The other hand was waving in time to the music.

The girl smiled, a bright, catwalk ready smile, her eyes wide and slightly hazy with the tiniest suggestion of a puzzled frown between the perfectly-groomed brows. 'The end of what, Drex?'

Drexel’s light green eyes were strangely unfocused, 'the end of everyone and everything that doesn't make me happy, babe,' His fingers tightened on her knee, then slid up the slim thigh, 'and when the Doors tell you it's the end, it's the fucking end of the end of the end.'

The four heavily armed guards in the other seats kept eyes front.

The co-pilot leant back, shouting over the music, 'hey Boss? There's a guy called Sebastian Monroe on the line for you.'

Drexel turned the music off, the eyes suddenly focused, sharp. ‘What? How the fuck did he know where to find me.' His eyes swept round the others seated in the chopper, hand reaching for the gun in his inside pocket, 'which one of you told him?'

Everyone tensed and the co-pilot's face went pale, ‘Boss, wait... I don't think it was them.'

Drexel's strange eyes turned to him, 'was it you then?' He lifted the gun, aimed...

The other man shook his head so hard one of his ear jacks fell out, he reached up a shaking hand to put it back, then held out the radio handset. 'No, fuck no. It's just...well, he’s calling from Gould's boat.'

Drexel stared at him for a moment, then a kind of amusement flickered over his face and he lowered the gun, 'really?' He shrugged, ‘Gould always was a freaking idiot.' He lifted the handset to his ear, ‘Hello, Sebastian. A little bird told me the O'Halloran girl found my Rum.’ He listened, face tightening into a mask, a muscle in his jaw throbbing and his fingers going white around the young woman's thigh. 

She winced, but didn’t move. 

‘Why would I call my people off?’ Drexel’s eyes weren’t entirely sane, and his voice held all kinds of menace. You’ve stuck your nose in to my business and now you, your interfering little tv presenter wife and your band of fucking merry men have got my treasure and I’m coming to get it.’ 

He listened again, let go of the girl’s leg, reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver flask, taking a long swallow. ‘You drive a hard bargain, Sebastian.’ He looked out the window again, chewing his lip, then he heaved a breath. ‘Ok. I’ll do it. But I get first option, alright?’ He disconnected. 

There was total silence in the chopper, then the blond girl smiled, her eyes bright, ‘are we going to be on tv, Drex?’

The co-pilot glanced at the nearest guard who shook his head, very slightly, a warning, it was better not to say anything. If the girl was too stupid not to know when to be quiet, it was her lookout.

But Drexel completely ignored her and sat very, very still for a long moment. Then he took a deep breath in and let it out through pursed lips. ‘Change of plan, Mark, we’re going straight to the yacht.’ He flicked his fingers in a hurry up,’and tell them to get my speedboat ready.’ 

The co-pilot nodded and took the handset back.

Drexel took another swig from the flask, ‘Oh, and tell the others to stop a few hundred yards away from Gould’s boat and the O’Halloran island and wait for orders.’

One of the guards leaned forwards, his powerful shoulders straining the seams of a well-cut suit but the expression on the dark, handsome face carefully professional, ‘so what’s the plan, Mr Drexel?’

Drexel’s lips twisted into a smug smile, ‘well… If I’m right, and I’m pretty sure I am, Sebastian will want to make sure his wife is safe in Casa O’Halloran, just in case there’s any rough stuff.’ He turned to the blond girl and chucked her under the chin, ‘just like I’m going to make sure you’re safe on my big yacht, Trixie.’

She gazed up at him, her smile a little uncertain, ‘It’s Tammy, Drex.’

A long finger slid over her lips, ‘shh, of course it is.’ He turned back to the others, ‘the O’Halloran girl was right about one thing, I’ve done a lot of research and learned a hell of a lot about these islands. I know more about them than anyone else.’ He looked out the window at the island, just coming into view off in the distance. ‘That house is more than two hundred and fifty fucking years old and it has a whole trunkful of secrets, including a smugglers dock that is so well hidden that I’d be surprised if anyone but me know’s it’s there.’ He leaned back in his seat and tapped the music back on again, Jim Morrison’s voice sounding a little crazy, a lot beautiful. Drexel’s hand started waving in time with the music and his eyes turned dreamy. ’So while Sebastian and his little pirate crew are busy getting the civilians off the island and safely out of the way, we’re going to go in the back door and pay Charlie Matheson a visit,’ He yawned and closed his eyes. ‘Then Sebastian and I will have another little chat.’

Jim Hudson sat back in his seat as his fellow guards exchanged discreet but worried glances. He understood their concern, Drexel didn’t seem to care about little things like breaking the law, but when this went wrong, it’d go wrong very badly for them. He adjusted his seat belt as the chopper swung around on a new heading, a finger casually pressing the send button on the old-fashioned radio transmitter in his pocket. Miles was an old-fashioned guy, but hey, he managed to get things done anyway, especially if someone was threatening someone he loved, and he loved Charlie. Hell they all did. And when Bass found out? 

Jim had to hold back a smile. Drexel had no idea of the trouble he’d just brought down on his head.

…………………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks so much for reading and staying with me so far, hope to see you at the next, and final chapter, cheers, Magpie :)


	8. And a bottle of rum...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: Thanks so much for reading, for liking - and for coming back after such a long break, you are awesome. This story started out as a birthday present for the hugely talented and extraordinary LemonSupreme, who has given so, so much to the Revo and Charloe fandom and all of us, and it still is. Thank you, Lemon :D love and respect, Magpie ☺

The plane did a little wiggle of wings as it went over them, then circled round as Miles lined it up for landing.

‘Here they come,’ Charlie waved up at them then checked her phone, ‘and Duncan sent photos of the island from the air, here, look.’ She held the phone out to Rebecca.

Rebecca checked it out, her pony tail swinging.’They’re great,’ she enlarged one pic, pointing to a point on the very edge of the oldest part of the house, and comparing it to the nineteenth century plan of the house her dad had unearthed from the library and that she’d spread out on the floor of the roof terrace where Bass had stationed them as look outs.’If Drexel’s right and there is a tunnel, the entrance has to be in the wall of the north cellar,’ she pointed it out, ‘it’s the only place that makes sense,’ she had another look, ‘although in one of the photos it looks like there could be something in the courtyard near the old well too, I’ll send dad and Bass both locations just in case…’ She glanced up from her tablet as she made notes, eyes determined but a little anxious, ‘you really think this is the best way, Charlie? Doing this ourselves, I mean, not getting the police involved?’

Charlie nodded, ‘your dad said they’ve never been able to stick anything on Drexel and that he’d just run and try another time if we call in the police. This way we can make sure that there’s enough evidence to totally screw him.’ She grinned, dimple flashing,’or we can just toss him overboard and make sure that he doesn’t bother anyone again.’

Rebecca still looked anxious, ‘he’s got a lot of people with him, what if someone gets hurt?’ 

‘Bass and the guys know what they’re doing, Bec, and I bet Drexel’s soldiers drop him like a hot potato when they see what’s waiting for them,’ Charlie’s grin widened, ‘besides, Jim Hudson’s undercover as one of Drexel’s bodyguards.’

‘Who’s Jim Hudson?’

Charlie got up and brushed some dust off her pants, ‘the guy’s a one man band of hand to hand combat, and he really, really doesn’t like drug dealers or people who prey on kids.’ She reached a hand out to Rebecca, ‘shall we go meet the plane? Bass wants us to take Duncan and meet Penny in your dad’s office.’ 

Rebecca gathered her stuff and got up, eyes cloudy, ’do we really have to stay there? We’ll miss everything.’

Charlie shrugged, ‘I told him we would, but after we get the others, maybe we could go check out the old well first?’ she headed for the stairs, glancing back, ’I mean, Drexel’s coming in through the smugglers tunnel into the cellars, so a well in the courtyard should be safe enough.’

The girl’s eyes lit up as she followed, ‘really? That’d be great, who knows, there could even be another tunnel. I mean, there were smugglers all over the islands…’

…………………………

Sitting in his place in the luxury cabin of Drexel’s speedboat barely feeling the swell as they surged through choppy water towards the O’Halloran Island, Jim Hudson’s dark, handsome face wore a calm, professional smile although inside he was simmering slowly to a boil, more than a little worried that he was going to end up deaf the music was so fucking loud. He figured Drexel was mentally ill or a psychopath, probably both, either way he had an urge to throttle the guy that was taking every single ounce of his concentration to resist. He sucked in a careful breath, worked on a creative visualisation of walking through his favourite library and focused on the fact that Miles, Bass and the others would be waiting for them with all the bells and whistles.

The other five guards in the cabin were either staring straight ahead, eyes carefully blank or were quietly checking their weapons. The blond, nordic type to his right was looking a little green under the shock of white stubble on his skull and chin though and Jim reached into his pocket, passing him a couple of dramamine.

The man took the pills with a nod of genuine gratitude, swallowed them dry then went back to watching their employer like a mouse watches the snake crawling past his hole. 

Drexel was sprawled across the front row of seats of the cabin dressed in smooth black Armani, a dreamy smile on his face as he gazed out the window singing along to Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries turned up to vibrant, deafening, tooth rattling max in tune with the rise and fall of the boat as it sped along, conducting the music with a bone and gold, hand tooled and beautifully engraved collectible Colt.45. 

……………….

Miles saw the speedboats as he brought the seaplane round for his final approach and his lips twisted into an evil grin as he spoke into the mic, ‘I see him, Bass, six o clock and coming in fast, three bogies behind him with…’ he had another look, ‘half a dozen little bogies apiece. Are you guys ready?’

Bass’ voice came back through the speaker, ‘We’re on it, Miles. Some of the local guys are letting us use their ordnance and Will’s so excited he’s about to come in his pants. You’d better get here fast or you’re gonna miss the fun.’

Duncan choked off a laugh and leaned over to the mic, draping an arm around Miles, ‘wouldn’t dream of missing a thing, Bass, see you soon.’

Bass came on the line again, ’copy that. Hey, did you bring my package?’

Miles brought the plane down lower, coming around in a wide circle to the side of the island out of sight of Drexel’s boats, ‘no, we sent it snail mail… of course we did, moron, now fuck off while I land this hunk of junk.’

There was the sound of a chuckle, ‘just try not to land on any of our boats, ok?’

‘Dick…’ Miles looked down, the waters around the island were crowded with boats, although there was an obvious clear space left as a kind of runway, ’nice of them to leave me a few square feet of river to land on.’

‘You’re lucky you’ve got that, we had to ask about a dozen O’Halloran’s to move over. Oh, Jeremy and Will are on the big blue pontoon, you can buzz ‘em if you like,’

Miles chuckled, close enough to see as the plane lumbered lower. ‘I see him, Jeremy doesn’t look happy, he’s giving me the bird.’

‘Jeremy never looks happy.’

Duncan laughed.

Miles dipped the plane, blowing a kiss down towards the blue boat and catching a brief glimpse of Jeremy’s lopsided grin and stiff middle finger. ’Ain’t that the truth. See you on the ground, brother.’

‘Counting on it…’  
………………..

In one of the big cellars built into the natural caves under the house, Connor carefully held the dusty old bottle up to the light and rubbed a bit of the glass clean with a rag. The wax was still sealed and unbroken and the label faded and almost unreadable but something was moving inside the brownish, bubbled glass like a slow, golden tide. ‘It looks just like ordinary rum, hard to believe it’s two hundred years old…’ He grinned, ‘except for the really, really old bottle and the layers of dirt.’ 

Penny leaned closer, her dark eyes sparkling with little golden highlights from the overhead lights hitting the bottle,’I wonder what it tastes like.’

Bill looked up from the table where he was placing the last of the two dozen bottles they’d found still cradled in their individual straw lined wooden boxes into a heavy crate they’d padded out with blankets and pillows, his eyes dancing. ‘Darlin’ as soon as we get finished with Drexel, we’ll open one of these babies up and find out, ok?’

Connor’s mouth dropped open, ‘you’d open one? for real? they must be worth thousands a piece…’

Bill shrugged, a little smile playing round his lips,’I figure we’ve earned it,’ he patted the nearest bottle gently, ‘besides, there’s enough here to pay off the family’s debt with plenty left over to do a whole lot of good for a whole lot of our friends.’ He grinned, ‘hell, they might even name a museum after us…’

‘I still can’t believe you found it.’ 

Bill nodded. ‘It was Becca, she remembered where they found the last bottle a couple of miles into the search on the second day and we found the cave entrance not far from away behind a fallen tree with the boxes buried about half way in, just a couple of old timbers sticking out…’

‘She’s got some great footage of the search and finding the rum. It’s going to make a fabulous short film and Connor’s gonna help her produce it,’ Penny’s phone chimed and she picked it up, checked the message then slung her bag over a shoulder and reached up to drop a kiss on Connor’s cheek. ‘Hey, that was Bass. Miles and Duncan are here and I’m heading upstairs to bodyguard Charlie, Bec and Duncan while you guys take care of the bad guys…’

Connor grinned down at her, for a moment looking a lot like his father, ‘Ok, babe, be careful and try to keep Charlie’s stupid to a minimum ok?’

She punched his shoulder, her multi coloured dreads swaying, her eyes glinting up at him, ’you sound just like Miles, sugar, but don’t forget Charlie’s a badass too and she only agreed to sit this one out because she’s pregnant and Bass begged her to do it.’ She reached up to press a kiss to his lips. ‘But don’t worry, I’ll look after them,’ then with a quick wave to Bill and a swirl of hair she was gone.

Connor looked after her for a moment, his eyes soft and proud, then he turned to Bill, ‘you sure you’re ok with staying, Bill? Being a cop I mean…’

The older man’s eyes gleamed and he rolled his sleeves up, ‘damn straight I’m ok with it, boyo,’ he peered over and checked his phone, there was a new message alert, ‘and I’ve got a few off-duty friends of my own just arrived who’re ok with it too.’ He gave the bottles one last pat then brushed off his hands and headed for the door, ‘I’ll go round ‘em up and check that the kids and the seniors have headed off, then we’ll meet you at the rendevous.’ He paused at the door, ‘tell me something, Connor. Your Penny, is she as good as you say she is? No offence, but there’s still time to send Bec and Charlie away with the others.’

Connor nodded, ‘none taken, and yes she is or Bass wouldn’t have asked her to do it,’ an eyebrow lifted, ‘besides do you really think Charlie or Bec’d want to be anywhere but here while Drexel was being taken down?’ 

Bill nodded, a rueful smile curving his lips, ‘no, from what I’ve seen of Charlie she wouldn’t, and Bec’s too much like me for her own good.’ He held a hand up in salute, ‘ok, we’ll see you there then.’

Connor grabbed his pack and the keys, ‘I’ll lock up.’

…………………….

Drexel was sitting with his eyes half closed looking at his phone, other hand gently knocking the barrel of his pistol against the bulkhead. He’d turned the music off and the sound of metal on exotic wood panelling was loud in the cabin. 

Jim Hudson clenched a fist, then very deliberately relaxed it again. The tapping was irritating the hell out of him. He held back a sigh. They’d been sitting out here for about half an hour doing fucking nothing, the boat was rolling and he’d run out of Dramamine. He was starting to get a bad feeling about this whole thing.

‘Looks like they’re heading out again, boss, most of the boats are leaving.’ Their pilot had binoculars to his eyes so he didn’t see Drexel’s face.

‘Now why would they do that?’ Drexel sat up straight and stopped tapping, ‘we know they’ve found my treasure so they should be having a party.’ He reached out for the binoculars, taking them and holding them to his eyes, ‘most of the ones leaving are fucking kids and old people, I don’t see Sebastian or his pretty little wife anywhere, or the other merry men. And who the fuck was in that plane?’ He handed the binoculars back without looking then held out his phone, waving it high. ’I’ve been sitting here wondering why the airwaves have been so quiet. No announcement, no tweets, no photos… not even a fucking Facebook post.’ He turned around to face the others. ‘There should’ve been something about finding that rum. Something to make me squirm, make me beg, but there’s been fucking nothing.’ His voice was rising to a shriek, face flushed, his eyes staring and he was waving the gun waving around in a kind of sinister dance, ‘Something’s wrong with this picture.’ 

Jim was as stunned into a kind of shocked silence as the others, but he had to somehow get the crazy guy to calm down and keep to the plan, otherwise Bass, Miles and the others’d lose any chance they had to pin Drexel down. He schooled his face to a professional mask, ‘So how do you want to play this, Mr Drexel?’ For a long moment, he thought he hadn’t got through. Then…

Drexel rubbed the back of the hand with the gun over his face, twisting it to rest the cool metal of the barrel against his forehead. He smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile.’Whoever was in the plane must’ve seen me coming and told O’Halloran and Sebastian, and maybe somehow they knew about the tunnel already and they’re waiting for me.’ He twisted round and pointed the gun at the island, pretending to fire it. ‘Bang. But what they don’t fucking know… Bang… is that there’s another way in. Bang and fucking bang, bang.’

Jim tensed, every combat trained instinct he had shrieking a warning.

Drexel stood up and put the gun down, his face eerily calm. ‘So…change of plan.’

…………………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Well, it isn’t quite finished yet, but I thought I’d just put this up as it felt like a good place to pause - hope to see you soon with the finale, cheers, Magpie ☺


	9. And pieces of eight...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: Thank you so much for reading and staying to the end of the story (which was a LONG time coming), I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride back to the Thousand Eyes universe and I really hope you like the way this ends, Lemon :) cheers and bye for now, Magpie ☺

The sea plane landed with barely a splash, looking almost graceful as Miles coasted it gently towards the island jetty where Bass, Will and Penny were waiting. 

Will smirked, nodding at the plane as Miles and Duncan disembarked. ’That was a nice landing. You’d never guess he spent the last few days and nights playing poker.’

Bass chuckled, ‘he’s in a good mood. He won.’

Penny lifted a hand up to shade her eyes, squinting at the plane. ‘What the hell is he wearing? And why’s Duncan got an eye patch?’ She grinned. ‘They look like extra’s from Black sails.’

Miles strode towards them wearing a wide grin although there were dark circles under his eyes. His hair was a black, windblown mess. Looming tall, rangy and dark, his long black leather duster belled out behind him, white shirt open at the neck showing black slivers of a few of his tatts and a leather thong with his lucky pendant gleamed at the hollow of his throat. He was wearing what looked like a real sword hanging from a belt at his side. 

Duncan was in pirate black too, frock coat, skin tight, laced and ripped leather pants complete with thigh high boots and a black leather eye patch over one eye. The other eye was a little bloodshot but still full of her usual confidence and self-possession. She had a pair of knives in crossed belts slung low over her hips along with what had to be a repro flintlock pistol. She swept up to them and struck a pose, one hand high in the air, ‘Hey there, do you like it? we thought we’d dress for the occasion…’

Bass looked from one to the other, quizzical, ‘pirates? you’ve got to be kidding me.’

Will was looking at Miles’ sword, eyes avid, ’is that a real one, man?’ He scowled up at Bass. ‘Why didn’t you tell me we could dress up, I’d’ve brought my own stuff.’ His eyes softened, ‘I’ve got this sweet katana…’

Miles drew his sword with a flourish, ‘I bought it in Vegas, Will, and the guy swore it was genuine,’ he grinned and shrugged, ‘although I gotta admit it bends if you’re not careful with it, so I’ve kinda got my doubts.’

Will’s lips twisted in disgust and disappointment. ‘Shit Miles… never thought I’d see you wearing a pussy sword.’

Chuckling, Miles sheathed the sword, ‘never thought I’d be wearing one either.’

Bass cleared his throat, ‘hate to break this up, but we need to get going.’ He glanced at Miles, ‘Drexel’s guys could always die laughing I guess.’

Miles shrugged again.’Don’t be a douche, Bass, I’m celebrating.’ But he hoisted his duffel bag over one shoulder then picked up the expensive leather overnighter sitting at his feet, handing it to Duncan, ‘Ok, I’m ready, so what’s the plan?’

Will grunted, ‘we’re gonna let him and his guys into the house so we can catch him trying to steal Bill’s rum, then Bill and his guys can arrest him.’

‘That’s your plan?’ Miles glared at him, then at Bass, ‘really?’

Bass looked him up and down, an eyebrow lifting, ’you’re the one who brought a knife to a gunfight brother.’ He turned to the door, looking back over his shoulder, ’I’m thinking Ramadi?’

Miles stopped glaring, then he nodded, ‘ok, that should work.’

Duncan looked from one to the other, exasperated, ’you’re talking in cities again. You two do that all the time and it’s very annoying.’

Bass turned to Miles, ‘do we really do it all the time?’

Miles twitched an eyebrow, ‘I wouldn’t say that much.’

Will chuckled, ‘It’s kind of cute actually.’

‘Cute? it’s a way of communicating strategy without having to go through all the bullshit.’ Bass sounded offended.

Penny rolled her eyes and strode over to Duncan, ‘hey, whatever gets the job done, yeah? But we’d better go, Duncan. Charlie and Becca are gonna meet us up in Bec’s dad’s office.’

The other woman flung the overnighter over her shoulder, ‘ok, but damn…it sounds like things are going to be much more fun down here.’

‘I know, but you said you’d help me guard Charlie.’

Duncan sighed heavily, ‘alright.’ then she sniffed, ‘but I bet we’re gonna be bored as hell and it’s a complete waste of this outfit.’ She flipped the eyepatch up and off, dropping it into her bag, then carefully stroked her eyebrow and leaned towards Penny, ‘is my make up ok?’

Penny squinted, eyes serious and focused as she examined Duncan’s face, which was perfectly made up as usual. Then she nodded, ‘It’s good.’ She turned for the door, dreads swinging, ’don’t worry, boss. Bill’s got cctv, we can watch from up there.’

Duncan brightened and followed her out, ‘good, maybe we can actually get some usable footage out of all this.’ She grinned back at Miles, nodded at Bass and winked at Will, ‘make it real for the cameras, guys.’

Bass rolled his eyes, ‘you won’t be able to use any pictures you get, you know that.’ But he was talking to the air.

……………………….

Penny opened the door of Bill’s wood panelled office, the assorted smells of old books, polished wood, leather and whisky wafting into her nose. She sneezed and waved her hand in front of her face. ‘Damn, this is so last millenium.’

Duncan brushed past her, dropping Miles’ bag onto a huge chesterfield lounge sitting against the panelled wall, looking around, ‘actually most of it is,’ she stroked a hand gently over the mellow patina of the wooden dado, her eyes sweeping over the large Persian rug on the floor, gleaming in vibrant shades of crimson, blue, orange and cream. ’Beautiful…’

Penny shrugged and went over to the very modern computer standing on the antique desk, flinging herself down onto the leather office chair and turning it on, ‘I guess. If you like that kind of thing. Anyway, Bill said he had an app to manage the cctv.’ She tapped a few keys, ‘and here it is.’ A triumphant, white toothed smile flashed in Duncan’s direction, ‘we can see anything we want from right here.’ She studied the screen and the small figures on it, ‘there’s Connor, he and Jeremy are just loading some of the rum onto the E. Scanlon’s got his medic kit and he’s heading out to join the others at the tunnel, and Bill and his mounties are on the roof doing their cover thing.’ She hummed, concentrating, tapping a few more keys, ’I can’t see Bass, Miles or Will yet, they must still be in the house. Wait a minute… There they are, and there are some empty boats moored just off shore, but I can’t see any of the bad guys.’ 

Duncan frowned, ‘maybe they’re still in the tunnel?’

Penny nodded, ‘maybe.’ She leaned closer to the screen, ‘wait a minute…there’s Charlie and Becca, they’re in the courtyard, looking at some big old sculpture.’ She glanced up at Duncan, confused, ’why the fuck are they doing that now? They’re supposed to be on their way up here.’ She looked back at the screen, her body going stiff. ‘Shit…Duncan, you need to see this, there are guys coming out from underneath the stone thingy.’

‘What?’ Duncan’s frown got deeper as she went up behind Penny, bending so she could see the screen. She paled, ’it’s Drexel and his merc’s, and they’ve got Charlie.’ She grabbed her bag.  
………………………

Bass had cold murder in his eyes, the blue harsh and icy, his lips tight, fingers tense and white around his phone.

Miles took it out of his hands, ‘give me that, you moron, you’re gonna break it.’

Will was flipping a knife round and round with lightening flashes of sharp edged steel, ‘so what are we waiting for? Let’s go kill the fucker.’

Miles nodded, ‘Jeremy’s on his way and he’s bringing the others.’ He gave the phone back to Bass and started back up along the path up to the house. ‘Let’s go, we’ll meet them up there.’

‘Drexel will want her to take him to the rum.’ Bass was just behind him, his gun ready in his hand.

‘Which is exactly what we need her to do.’ 

‘If the bastard does anything to hurt her…’ Bass’ voice was a hard promise.

Miles glanced back, his face set in harsh lines. ’He won’t. We won’t let him.’ But he couldn’t keep the worry out of his voice.

‘So how psycho is this guy anyway?’ Will moved up to take point, his movements smooth, economical. He opened the big back door into the boot room, scoping the hall beyond then moving in, pausing as the others got in too. ‘I’ll go have a look around.’

Bass pushed past Miles to go next, graceful and dangerous in his black tee and jeans, ‘about as psycho as they come apparently.’ He speared a glance back over his shoulder, ‘although Miles sort of forgot to mention that little detail when he sent Charlie and me along to his little private island for a fucking party…’

The Pirate outfit making him look like something from a movie against the backdrop of the old house, Miles returned the glance, pained. ‘How was I to know you two’d go all white hat on a fucking treasure hunt and that Captain Hook’d want in?’

Bass shrugged, brushing past a tall bookshelf on his way down the hall and putting out an arm to stop a vase falling from a shelf, ’you could’ve warned me. Just saying.’

‘I thought you knew, and I thought Charlie’d be safe with you.’

Bass spun on his heel, his hand going around Miles’ throat, slamming him against the wall, his eyes burning blue as he pressed close, body rigid with tension. ’Well she wasn’t, was she. I left her alone for five fucking minutes and he got to her…’

Miles stared back, dark eyes boring into light, letting him do it, not even trying to get free. ’Bass, we’ll get her back. I promise. We’ll get her back.’

Bass took a long, shuddering breath in, eyes a swimming, electric blue, his hand sliding down over Miles’ shoulder to his bicep, fingers tight around the thick muscle.’I’m sorry Miles. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have let her out of my sight. What if she loses the baby? What if I lose her?’

Miles put a hand over his, gripping tight. ’We won’t let anything happen to either of them Bass. Charlie’s strong. She’ll be ok, the baby’ll be ok. And Jim’s there too, remember. He’ll make sure nothing happens to her.’

Will came back at a trot and broke in, his voice a harsh, panting whisper, ’Sorry to interrupt guys, but I think it’s party time.’ He gestured with his gun, ‘Jer, Scanlon and Connor are just behind us, they’ll be here any minute,’ then he tipped his head in the other direction, ‘and I spotted the bad guys coming in from the courtyard and heading towards the cellar.’ His eyes hardened, ‘they’ve tied and gagged the girls but both of ‘em look ok.’ He smiled, just a little, eyes glinting, ’Jim’s with ‘em and he’s wearing that look he gets when he’s ready to carve out a few living hearts.’

Bass took a deep, steadying breath and straightened up, letting go of Miles, his eyes hard, unforgiving blue. ’Not if I get to them first.’

There was the sound of footsteps behind them as Jeremy and Connor came running up the hall just ahead of Scanlon, Bill and a half dozen very capable looking, well-armed men and women filling up the hallway behind them and making it seem small. 

Miles grunted, stripping off the fake sword belt and dropping it on the ground although the lack of a sword didn’t make him look any less dangerous. ’Looks like the gang’s all here, time to move out.’

Jeremy was panting just a little as he got to them, anxious, ‘we need to hurry guys, I tried to tell Duncan and Penny to stay where they were and wait for us, but you know those two.’

The corners of Miles’ mouth twitched, ‘I gave up trying to tell Duncan to do anything a long time ago.’

Connor leaned forward on his knees, catching his breath as he looked up at Bass and rolled his eyes, expression hovering somewhere between pride and deep worry, ‘I’ve never heard Penny so pissed.’

Bill joined them, his face grim. ‘I’ve just sent out for some more guys, they’re on their way. We just need to catch the bastard with his hands on the bottles, we’ve already got him and his guys on film for B&E, trespassing, kidnap and assault but that’ll put the icing on the cake.’ He turned to Bass. ‘He’s got my daughter and your wife, why are we still here?’ 

………………………

As two of Drexel’s men pulled them along through the house towards the cellar steps by the ropes tied around their wrists, Charlie was working very hard at staying calm, imagining she was at work, cameras tracking her face, the need to keep herself together, to follow the script… She glanced over at Rebecca, the girl was frightened but walking head high, steps firm. Charlie caught her eyes and smiled over the cloth of the gag, trying to reassure her. Bass and Miles would be there soon, Bill too. She had absolutely no doubt of it. They just had to hold on.

Rebecca gave her a tiny nod, the brown eyes angry and determined under the fear.

Charlie nodded back, relieved that Bec was doing ok. She was also very aware of Jim Hudson walking along behind her, a solid wall of muscle and comfort, very glad he was there although she was careful not to look his way, not wanting to draw anyone’s attention to him. Especially not Drexel’s. She glanced up at their captor. 

The tall slim man with green, unnervingly staring eyes was striding along beside her humming something that sounded like it was from an opera and spinning an expensive looking gun round and round in one hand.

They reached the stairs and just before she started down Charlie noticed a small strand of bright silver and coral beads looped around the stair rail. She caught her breath, they were the same beads Penny used in her hair… She looked around, carefully, but couldn’t see anything, yet anyway, especially with all of Drexel’s men crowding around. But even though she couldn’t she felt better. 

The blond, nordic looking guy pulling her along tugged on her rope, impatient.

She followed him down the steps, Rebecca close behind her.

Jim Hudson hovered at the top of the stairs for a moment, scanning the hall and visible rooms, ignoring the four men Drexel had left to guard the stairs. His eyes settled on a flash of bright dreads, just visible behind the door to the big drawing room and he let himself smile just a little. He liked Penny, she was one of the best natural fighters he’d seen in a while. Then he saw Bass, Miles and what looked like a whole platoon coming from the back of the house. About fucking time. He made his move.  
……………………..

Penny watched from behind a door as the creeps who’d got Charlie passed them by and turned to Duncan, flattened against the wall beside her, her voice a careful whisper, ’He’s leaving two on guard at the top of the stairs, I’m going to take them out, ok?’

Duncan frowned and hissed back, ‘shouldn’t we wait until Miles and the others get here?’ 

‘Hell no, I can take two with my eyes closed.’ Then she groaned, ‘no…wait a minute, there’s two more staying behind. Shit. I can’t take four on my own.’

Duncan had a quick look and grinned, ‘you won’t have to, there’s Jim and he’s calling us in.’  
…………………………….  
The four guards were too busy staring at the two gorgeous women sauntering towards them to take much notice of what was coming up behind them, and the two at the back were unconscious and on the floor before they knew that Jim was even there. 

The two at the front weren’t quite as lucky, from almost a standing start, Penny was suddenly airborne and flying into an elegant back flip, wrapping the first man around the neck with her legs, cutting off any voice as well as his breath then landing on him with her full weight on his chest and a forearm under his throat driving out any air he might have had left. 

The second man had opened his mouth to sound the alarm but found himself staring down the blade of Duncan’s very real, non-costume and extremely sharp dagger. Then Jim slid a heavy arm around his throat and a moment later he was lying with the others on the floor. 

Duncan slid the knife back in its sheath with a businesslike snick, ’well, that was fun…’  
………………………

In the cellar, Drexel stared at the crates and the bottles lying cradled in their cushions of straw and foam. His eyes were soft, almost reverent and his lips were curved in a smile of mixed satisfaction and lust. He reached out a hand and stroked one of the bottles with the back of a finger. ‘Beautiful aren’t they?’

Charlie muttered something past the wad of cloth in her mouth.

He spared her a quick glance, ‘What was that, Mrs Monroe? Oh, I’m sorry…of course you can’t say anything. With that gag I mean. But I couldn’t have you calling out to your annoyingly persistent husband, could I?’

She shrugged and decided to keep quiet, for now anyway. Once Bass arrived all bets were off.

Rebecca stepped forward, almost barging into Drexel, vibrating with anger. Her dark eyes glaring up at him above her gag, full of fury and defiance. ‘Mmmff….’

He laughed, delighted. ‘My you’re a feisty little thing, aren’t you?’ He patted her on the head then stroked her cheek with a forefinger. His eyes were full of something that made Charlie’s blood run cold as she watched his fingers move round to cup Rebecca’s chin then stroke down her throat… ’Maybe you’d like to come to another party?’ He leaned in a little closer. ‘This time you could stay longer, with me. We could have a lot of fun.’ He licked his lips, leaving a wet trail.

Rebecca reared back away from his hand, shaking her head frantically from side to side. ‘Mmmmff… mmff’.

Charlie tried to catch the younger girl’s eye, to warn her to keep quiet. Drexel was unpredictable and probably certifiable. Anything she did could send him over the edge and then he might actually hurt her.

But after a long moment, Drexel let go then smiled and turned back to the bottles. ‘But we can talk about that later, right now I need to get my rum away from this stupid island before your dad and his new friends get back.’ He patted the nearest one, his smile becoming almost tender, ‘poor babies, they need to be taken care of properly, like the treasures they are,’ he picked up some of the packing and flung it away with a look of disdain, ’not wrapped up like whores in this cheap crap.’

………………………….

Bass was churning up inside, eyes fixed on the dark space across the room that led to the cellar where Drexel was holding Charlie. His whole being wanted to rage down those stairs, guns blazing to save his wife and kill the crazy bastard who took her. He changed position slightly, tension and adrenaline making it hard to stay still. This was turning into the longest wait of his entire fucking life.

Miles nudged him, ‘Bass, you need to keep it together. We have to wait till they come up with the girls and the rum, if we try to do anything down there they could get hurt or worse.’

Bass nodded once, short and sharp, ‘I know,’ but his tension showed in the lines around his mouth and eyes, and in the fists clenched at his sides.

Bill glanced round, his face pale and strained. ’Doesn’t mean we have to like it though, the thought of that man anywhere near my daughter is making me sick to the stomach.’ He went back to staring at the stairs to the cellars, speaking over his shoulder. ‘By the way, I just heard from the guys we sent to seal off the entrance to the other tunnel. They’ve done it. The bastard doesn’t have a choice, there’s only one way out.’

‘Good.’ Miles glanced at him, ‘and he’ll have seen all the boats leaving so he won’t be expecting this many of us to be up here waiting for him.’

‘He’s gonna use Charlie and Rebecca as human shields. Y’know that don't you.’ Jeremy came up behind them, Scanlon and Connor just behind him. 

Bass swung round and glared. ‘Thanks for pointing out the fucking obvious, Jer’.

Jeremy held his hands up in surrender, frowning as he took in the bone deep worry on Bass’ face. ‘Sorry Boss, that was a stupid thing to say.’

Connor came up close, ‘Dad, it’s gonna be ok. Penny and Duncan are with Jim, they’re hiding in a storeroom on the next landing down and they’re gonna grab Charlie and Bec while we take care of Drexel and the others.’ His lips curved a little, dark eyes gleaming. ’hey… Duncan managed to get a vid of Penny going after one of the guards? It’s awesome.’

Bass took a deep breath in and nodded, glancing back at his son and his right hand man. ‘Thanks, both of you, and I’m sorry I snapped at you, Jer.’ He turned back to watching the stairs again, anxiety and impatience in every line of his muscular body.

Jeremy cleared his throat, ‘it’s ok, I deserved it, I'm an idiot…’

Connor shot him a sympathetic look.

Bill held a hand up for attention, reading a text on his phone. Then he turned, a grim smile curving the corners of his mouth. ‘Ok, they’re moving out. It’s showtime.’

……………………………

Drexel yanked on the ropes he was leading the girls with, ignoring the gasps as the ropes dug into the soft skin of wrist and hand. He was pissed, somehow the other tunnel had been closed off, damn the O’Hallorans. So that meant they had to go out the way they came in. He yanked again, just because he could.

 

Charlie lurched up another step and tried to forget the pain in her wrists, the bad taste in her mouth from the gag and the ache in her shoulders and back from being pulled along and not being able to keep her balance properly. Her toes hurt in her light sneakers from being bumped on what felt like every step. She really needed to pee too and she was getting worried that all this might affect her baby, might make something go wrong. It was so early, so new… She glanced down at Rebecca.

The girl was sticking as close as she could to Charlie, which wasn’t too hard as Drexel had sent the other guys to help carry the crate containing the rum, then tied their ropes together so he could pull them along by himself.

Rebecca was still walking tall, but her fear was beginning to show through the defiance in her eyes.

Charlie tried to smile for her again, but damn it, her cheeks hurt, her wrists hurt, her fingers had gone numb and she was really, really looking forward to getting rescued. She glanced around, Drexel’s other men were coming up behind the men carrying the crate, marching in loose and almost casual formation, although their weapons were very real. She hoped Jim had passed on how many there were. She checked the stairs above them, he’d stayed behind with the men Drexel had left on guard at the top of the stairs. A little smile curved her lips around the gag, if she could place a bet, it’d be that none of the four guards were still vertical. Jim was very efficient. 

They had almost reached the landing on the way up when someone let the crate slip, almost dropping it onto the stone steps. One of the men swore…

Drexel swung round, snarling, his face a mask of fury and his gun pointing straight at the startled men on the steps below. ‘You idiots, those bottles are irreplaceable, if there’s a scratch on any one of them I’ll take it out of your fucking hides.’ His voice was harsh, a hissing whisper.

None of them said anything aloud, but there was a shuffle of boots on stone and assorted muttering as they got the crate back under control. 

Then they all continued up the stairs, the old fashioned sconces with their cloudy glass covers casting flickering shadows on the walls… 

Charlie followed Drexel up the last step onto the landing before the last flight up to the ground floor where they’d come in, Rebecca right beside her. She vaguely noticed a door ajar to her right, maybe it led to a storeroom? or a broom cupboard? Then she saw a hand come reaching out holding a large, sharp looking knife. The knife flashed through the ropes holding she and Rebecca to Drexel and then, almost faster than she could follow she and Becc were swung into a dimly lit space and the door was slammed shut behind them. Her eyes went wide when she was pushed gently but firmly aside as Penny shoved the old metal chair she’d found in the corner of the room under the door handle, ignoring the yells of anger coming from outside. 

‘Hi sugar.’ Penny’s familiar greeting was a little strained, maybe because she was leaning her full weight against the door to keep it from being opened by a furious Drexel…

Charlie ripped off the gag as soon as Duncan sliced through the ropes around her wrists, a grin spreading across her face as she joined Penny in leaning against the door, it rattled and shook under her. ‘Am I glad to see you two.’ She glanced back at Rebecca.

The younger girl was standing wide-eyed, holding her hands out to let Duncan set her free too. Her brilliant and awe-struck gaze going from Penny, then pirate queen Duncan and back again.

Then it sounded as though all hell broke loose outside the door.  
…………………….

Bass felt a cold, hard smile curve his lips as he watched Bill’s men take charge of Drexel and his mercs, herding them all onto boats to go back to the mainland for processing. The look of shock on Drexel’s face when he saw him and Miles together was almost worth the fear and cold fury Bass had been nursing in the pit of his stomach for Charlie. Almost.

It had almost felt like an anti-climax when most of Drexel’s mercenaries gave up and abandoned him without a fight, especially when they realised that Jim Hudson was fighting on the other side. A few of them hadn’t given up though, and for a few, hectic and violent minutes the stairs had been full of fighting men and women. 

But after it was over, Drexel had seemed more worried about protecting the old bottles of rum than the fact that he was under arrest, he’d been intent on making sure everyone knew how precious they were, how fragile. Even when he found out that Rebecca had wired herself for sound and recorded everything, the kidnap, the plans to steal the rum, everything, it didn’t seem to matter, until she told him they were donating half of the find to their local museum. The police took him out yelling something about the rum being his, that his name should be on the collection, not O’Halloran…

Bass had almost felt sorry for him. Almost, not quite. His arm tightened around Charlie as they headed back to Bill’s office with the others and he bent to press a kiss on her hair. Relief and adrenaline still surging round his body…

She hummed and leaned into him, wrapping her arms more firmly around his waist. She wasn’t planning on letting go for some time yet. 

………………………….

Bill stood at his oak desk and carefully and gently eased the old but still firm cork out of the neck of the thick, greenish blue glass bottle with his thumbs. There was a faint sound, almost like a sigh as it slipped out. He held the bottle up to the sunlight coming in through the window and there was a flash of pure gold from the liquid swirling inside…

An echoing sigh whispered around the room.

Will leaned forward, eager. ‘Well? what do you think? is it still good?’

Miles peered over from his position between Duncan and Connor, who had an arm round Penny on his other side, ’looks fine to me, let’s try it.’ He picked up a glass from the tray in the middle of the desk and held it out…

Duncan frowned up at him, ‘Philistine, this is historic. When that rum was bottled this was a whole other world…’ She picked up a glass too, aiming a sultry smile at Bill, ‘but hey, the day’s wasting.’

Scanlon let out a little sigh, ‘it almost makes me want to start drinking again.’ 

Jeremy grinned at him, ‘wow, you mean two hundred year old rum is nearly good enough to enter the temple of your body?’

Scanlon made a face, but his lips were twitching, ‘almost, but Simon wouldn’t cook me anything for a week if he found out I’d drunk alcohol.’

Bass chuckled, his chin resting on the top of Charlie’s smiling blond head, his arms around her waist, ‘Charlie and I won’t be having any either, Scan,’ he glanced around the room, ‘so we’ll have to rely on the rest of you to know what it’s like.’

‘It could be undrinkable,’ Jim turned from where he was checking out the crowded shelves of books, ‘maybe one person should try it first, just in case it’s turned into poison or something.’

Miles threw him a look of disgust, ‘poison? Jim, that’s ridiculous, alcohol lasts for years, it’s a preservative for fuck’s sake.’

Will snorted and rubbed a hand over his face, ‘hasn’t preserved me yet and I’ve been drinking it for years.’

Everyone laughed…

Bill sniffed the bottle, his eyes half closing. ’It sure doesn’t smell like poison.’ he looked around. So who is going to join me in partaking of this fine vintage?’

Before anyone could answer, the door flew open and Rebecca burst in, her face glowing, ‘dad, mom and Jack are here.’

A small, slim and lovely but tired looking woman in jeans and sweater followed her in, blond hair tied back in a careless knot at the back of her head. She was carrying a young boy, not much more than a toddler and very thin in a warm winter jacket, his face, except for big blue eyes almost hidden by a bright red beanie and matching scarf. The woman’s eyes widened when she saw the room full of people, ‘Bill? Bec said something about you finding some kind of treasure? and that you were finally putting that creep Drexel in jail?’ She glanced around, friendly but curious. ‘Hi folks, I’m Ellen and this is Jack.’

Charlie lifted a hand and waved, ‘Hi.’ Her eyes went to the little boy and her heart ached for him and his family. He looked pale and tired, leaning against his mom’s shoulder, his eyes drooping and when the beanie slipped a little, the small head was bare and smooth, vulnerable. Her breath caught on the lump in her throat and she felt Bass’ arms tighten around her, felt his lips, gentle on the back of her neck, knew he was feeling the same.

There was a chorus of quiet greetings from around the room. 

Bill passed the bottle to Will, who just happened to be closest, and went to greet her, his arms going gently round the both of them. ‘Hi hon,’ He kissed her and then bent and pressed his lips to the little boy’s forehead. ‘Hi there, Beaver.’

The boy looked up, a smiling lighting the small face. ‘Hi, daddy.’

Will cleared his throat, holding the bottle of rum up, ’I’ll pour us a drink then, shall I?’

…………………..

Bass fell back against the pillows in their cabin on the M, his breath coming in hard gasps as the bright, intense waves pleasure rolled over him.

Charlie’s hands slid up over his belly to his chest as she nuzzled her way up from where she’d been busy between his legs. ‘Mmm… have to admit I love having you all to myself again.’

He chuckled, getting his breath back, ‘not gonna argue with that.’ He ran his fingers through her hair and over her shoulders. ‘it was a good night though, wasn’t it?’

She kissed his belly button, her tongue dipping in, circling, teeth nibbling and making him gasp, her eyes bright and wicked looking up at him, ‘I bet there’ll be a few sore heads tomorrow morning though, Miles said the rum was seriously strong and Bill said they could have the bottle. 

‘Do you remember Will challenging Miles to a duel? With swords? but Duncan wouldn’t give him her sword, so then he was going to use kitchen knives because Bass wouldn’t let him go to the boat to get his own.’ 

Charlie laughed, ‘I think it was something Miles said about one of Will’s ex wives.’

‘Yeah,’ Bass pulled her up into kissing range, ‘and Connor said he’d be Miles’ second, and Duncan said she’d be Will’s because she said Miles was being a dick,’ he shook his head, ‘and Penny said they had to go out onto the lawn so they didn’t get blood on the carpet.’

‘Then Jeremy had a hissy fit over Connor and Bec wanting to film it, said something about ‘plausible deniability.’ She ran a hand up his cheek, her fingers playing with the curls above his ear. ‘Then you stepped in and said if anyone did any duelling they’d be on desk duty for the next year… and you told Miles to apologise to Will.’

‘Which he did, because he knows I could tell Duncan a couple of things about him that’d curl even her hair… And meanwhile Jim and Bill were so busy arguing over how many people Stephen King really is they missed the whole thing.’

Charlie’s eyes fell, ‘so did Ellen, I was talking to her for a while. She’s lovely, and so’s Jack, the poor little thing. She left to put him to bed before all that happened though. I can’t imagine how hard it’s been for all of them.’ Dammit she was tearing up again. She leaned into Bass, enjoying his warmth, his solid strength, the vibrant life in him. ’I’m so glad we helped find the rum for them.’

He held her tight, his lips skating over her hair, ‘yeah, so am I, they’ll be able to keep their island and get whatever treatment Jack needs without having to worry about money.’

‘And Duncan’s going to help Bec and Connor produce the story of the lost treasure of Bill Johnstone, pirate.’ She grinned, ‘Bec’s already got someone in mind to play the part of Bill Johnstone in the movie version.’

‘Has she? Who?’

Charlie snuggled closer, ’there’s this gorgeous Australian actor, tall, blond, with beautiful blue eyes,’ she trailed her lips up over his throat, her eyes laughing up at him, ‘he looks a lot like you actually.’

Bass chuckled, ‘really?’ He shifted a little, reaching out to open the top drawer of the little cupboard beside the bed, taking out a small package. ’Hey…I’ve got something for you.’ He pressed it into her hand. ‘I asked Miles to fetch it from home for me.’

She slithered round so she could use both hands to open it, ‘what is it?’

‘Open it and see.’

Her fingers made quick work of untying the white silk ribbon and she opened the box, her lips parting in a gasp. ‘Oh…Bass, it’s beautiful.’ She lifted the shimmering gold chain, the diamond drop hanging from it swaying and catching the light in dazzling rainbows.

‘It was my mom’s, dad gave it to her when they found out she was having me.’ His hands moved gently, possessively over her belly.

Charlie felt her eyes fill, ‘I love it.’ she pulled him down for a kiss, ‘and I love you too.’

Bass kissed her back, enjoying having her to himself too and very glad that Drexel was finally heading for jail - which he was, Bill had sent a text confirming it, he’d been ruled a flight risk, so no bail either. They could all relax. He held her close, his hands roaming her smooth curves, her soft skin…’We’ve still got two weeks before we have to head back, what do you want to do next?’

Charlie stretched back against the pillows, feeling blissfully sated and luxuriously tired, ‘Becca was telling me about an island up river that’s supposed to be haunted by the ghosts of civil war soldiers, there’s an old fort and it’s supposed to be really creepy, lots of weird things happen there. I’d love to film it, maybe do a story for Duncan…’ she reached up a hand and ruffled his beard. ‘What d’you think? Do you feel like another adventure?’

He chuckled into her hair, ‘life with you is an adventure, Charlie, but I love anything about the Civil war, so let’s do it…’

………………………..

The end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end, for now anyway - there is more to this story of course in the last few chapters of ‘A thousand eyes…’
> 
> Thanks SO much for sticking with me on this, you are awesome. I loved writing this story, the Thousand Islands is a place I simply have to visit some day - so much history and so beautiful… I loved getting all the guys together, although in a short story there wasn’t room to give them nearly enough to do, damn it… Anyway, hope to see you again sometime, love, Magpie


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